''Red Earth'' is a 2007 studio album by Dee Dee Bridgewater. It carries the subtitle "A Malian Journey" to celebrate and explore her African and Malian ancestry. The album brought her the seventh nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Album at the
2008 Grammy Awards
The 50th Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, on February 10, 2008. It honored musical achievement of 2007 in which albums were released between October 1, 2006, through September 30, 2007. The primary ceremonies ...
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' stated "After a few underwhelming "crossover" projects, US singer Dee Dee Bridgewater has made a cracking album that unites great jazz singing with the Malian griot tradition. ''Red Earth'' is neither fusion nor compromise but a happy meeting of African musicianship and Afro-American romanticism. Mostly recorded in Bamako, it includes several Malian songs: a sparkling version of Kassé Mady Diabaté's Bad Spirits (Bani), featuring
Toumani Diabaté
Toumani Diabaté ( ; born 10 August 1965) is a Malian kora player. In addition to performing the traditional music of Mali, he has also been involved in cross-cultural collaborations with flamenco, blues, jazz, and other international styles. ...
, and a joyous duet with
Ramata Diakité
Ramata "Rah" Diakité (Madina Diansa, Wassoulou, 1976 - Burkina Faso October 30, 2009) was a Malian Wassoulou woman musician. She was the cousin of Tata Diakité, who also died young.Oumou Sangare, Mamani Keita, Fatamata "Mama" Kouyaté (on the bluesy title track) and Tata Kouyaté on Bambo (No More), her famous protest against forced marriage. An amazing cast of Malian musicians make classics such as Afro Blue and Long Time Ago (Wayne Shorter's Footprints with lyrics) sound reborn, giving
Nina Simone
Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone (), was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blu ...
All compositions by Dee Dee Bridgewater, except as noted.
#"
Afro Blue
"Afro Blue" is a jazz standard composed by Mongo Santamaría.
Santamaria version
Mongo Santamaria recorded his composition "Afro Blue" in 1959 when playing with the Cal Tjader Sextet. The first recorded performance was on April 20, 1959, at th ...
" (
Mongo Santamaría
Ramón "Mongo" Santamaría Rodríguez (April 7, 1917 – February 1, 2003) was a Cuban percussionist and bandleader who spent most of his career in the United States. Primarily a conga drummer, Santamaría was a leading figure in the pachanga an ...
,
Oscar Brown, Jr.
Oscar Brown Jr. (October 10, 1926May 29, 2005) was an American singer, songwriter, playwright, poet, civil rights activist, and actor. Aside from his career, Brown ran unsuccessfully for office in both the Illinois state legislature and the U. ...
) – 5:11
#"Bad Spirits" – 5:49
#"Dee Dee" ( Baba Sissoko, Bridgewater) – 2:57
#"Mama Don't Ever Go Away" – 5:39
#"Long Time Ago" (
Wayne Shorter
Wayne Shorter (born August 25, 1933) is an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Shorter came to prominence in the late 1950s as a member of, and eventually primary composer for, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. In the 1960s, he joined Miles Dav ...
, Bridgewater) – 6:48
#"Children Go 'Round" – 6:05
#"The Griots" – 6:04
#"Oh My Love" – 6:03
#" Four Women" (
Nina Simone
Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone (), was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blu ...
Compared to What
"Compared to What" is a protest song written by Gene McDaniels. It was recorded by Roberta Flack in February 1969 for her debut album '' First Take'', but became better known following a performance by Les McCann (piano and vocals) and Eddie Harr ...
" (
Gene McDaniels
Eugene Booker McDaniels (February 12, 1935 – July 29, 2011) was an American singer and songwriter. He had his greatest recording success in the early 1960s, reaching number three on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart with "A Hund ...
, Lassy "King" Massassy) – 5:21
All tracks recorded in Bamako (Mali) at Studio Bogolan except tracks 11, 12 and 13 recorded in Paris at
Davout studios Studio Davout is a recording studio located in Paris, France. It was created in 1965 by Yves Chamberland later joined by Claude Ermelin.Yves Chamberland and Claude Ermelin are defectors from Europa Sonor studios. It was built in the 1,200 m² of a ...
Ira Coleman
Ira Coleman (born April 29, 1956) is a French-American jazz bassist.
Educated at the Berklee College of Music, he appears on four albums by Paris-based pianist Laurent de Wilde Carr, Ian; Fairweather, Digby and Priestley, Brian''Rough Guid ...
Ramata Diakité
Ramata "Rah" Diakité (Madina Diansa, Wassoulou, 1976 - Burkina Faso October 30, 2009) was a Malian Wassoulou woman musician. She was the cousin of Tata Diakité, who also died young.Mamani Keïta - Vocals (3), background vocals
*Fatoumata "Mama" Kouyaté - Vocals (11), background vocals
*Kabiné Kouyaté - Vocals (7), background vocals
*Tata "Bambo" Kouyaté - Vocals (10)
*Amy Sacko - Vocals (6), background vocals
*
Oumou Sangaré
Oumou Sangaré ( bm, Umu Sangare; born 25 February 1968 in Bamako) is a Grammy Award-winning Malian Wassoulou musician, sometimes referred to as "The Songbird of Wassoulou". Wassoulou is a historical region south of the Niger River, where the mu ...
Balafon
The balafon is a gourd-resonated xylophone, a type of struck idiophone. It is closely associated with the neighbouring Mandé, Senoufo and Gur peoples of West Africa, particularly the Guinean branch of the Mandinka ethnic group, but is now f ...
, ngoni,
tamani
Tamani is a small town and commune in the Cercle of Barouéli in the Ségou Region of southern-central Mali
Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maal ...
Djelimady Tounkara
Djelimady Tounkara is a Malian musician and one of the foremost guitarists in Africa.
Life and career
Born in the culturally rich town of Kita, west of the Malian capital, Bamako, Djelimady grew up surrounded with traditional music played by mem ...
- Guitar (soloist)
*
Mamadou Diabaté
Mamadou Diabaté (born 1975) is a Malian musician known for his work with the kora. He began playing quite early in his life, became known as a musician in the area of Mali in which he lived, and has since moved to the United States, recording s ...
Moussa Sissoko
Moussa Sissoko (born 16 August 1989) is a French professional footballer who plays as midfielder for club Nantes and the France national team. He plays as a box-to-box midfielder in the centre of the pitch, and is capable of playing in eit ...