Somi - The Lagos Music Salon

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2014
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 68:31
Size: 194,1 MB
Art: Front

(1:25)  1. First Kiss: Eko Oni Baje
(3:22)  2. Love Juju #1
(3:55)  3. Lady Revisited (feat. Angelique Kidjo)
(5:18)  4. Ankara Sundays
(4:04)  5. Ginger Me Slowly
(4:28)  6. When Rivers Cry (feat. Common)
(4:31)  7. Brown Round Things
(0:53)  8. The Story of Monkey
(4:07)  9. Akobi: First Born S(u)n
(5:51) 10. Two Dollar Day
(4:47) 11. Still Your Girl
(3:32) 12. Four.One.Nine
(2:11) 13. Love Nwantinti (feat. In His Image)
(6:36) 14. Four African Women
(1:17) 15. Hearts & Swag
(4:21) 16. Love Juju #2
(4:21) 17. Last Song
(3:23) 18. Shine Your Eye

To most people, the junction of New York and Lagos, Nigeria may not seem like a natural place for an album to take shape. Somi, thankfully, thought otherwise. This worldly and well-traveled vocalist makes it seem like the most natural of meeting points on The Lagos Music Salon. Somi's music has always been informed by African, R&B and soul influences, but an eighteen month stay in Lagos helped her dig deeper into the African cultural soil than she ever had before. The resultant album, powerful, cool, vibrant, sly and lively all at once, could be considered the latest and most developed strain of "New African Jazz" that she's produced yet: that's a term Somi herself coined to describe her music a while back, but it fits this one like a glove.

The music and the stories Somi tells often seem to counter each other in color and emotion, a striking separation that makes the whole Lagos Music Salon experience all the more powerful. Sultry settings and strong messages share space as Somi smoothly sings of somebody whose two dollar salary won't cover the trip home because of the outrageous fuel costs in Nigeria ("Two-Dollar Day"); jubilant music creates a cushion for Somi and guest vocalist Angelique Kidjo as they give due to Fela Kuti while simultaneously delivering a message of female empowerment ("Lady Revisited"); and a bass groove sets the stage as the lady in charge gives a nod to Nina Simone's "Four Women," singing of four different horrors that befall African women ("Four African Women"). Whether singing of dead serious topics like these or riffing on more benign matters, Somi is beguiling. While the album itself speaks to African topics and ideals, a New York river of talent runs through it all.

Drummer Otis Brown III creates solid rhythmic platforms and occasionally channels his inner Tony Allen ("Lady Revisited"); pianist Toru Dodo is spellbinding, whether shimmering, firmly putting his two hands to good use, or delivering poignant accompaniment in an intimate trio setting with Somi and guest trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire ("Brown Round Things"); guitarist Liberty Ellman manages to channel the African spirit in his every gesture; and bassist Michael Olatuja is a grounding and grooving presence. Together, with Somi out front, they create music that resonates on an emotional level. By Dan Bilawsky
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/the-lagos-music-salon-somi-okeh-review-by-dan-bilawsky.php


Personnel: Somi: vocals; Toru Dodo: piano; Michael Olatuja: bass; Keith Witty: drum programming, double bass; Liberty Ellman: guitar; Otis Brown III: drums; Abraham Lanlate: talking drum; Cobhams Asuquo: percussion, drum programming, vocals; Alicia Olatuja: vocals; Angelique Kidjo: vocals (3); Cochemea Gastelum: saxophone; Ayanda Clarke: percussion; Conrad Harris: violin; Pauline Kim Harris: violin; Caleb Burhans: viola; Peter Sachon: cello; Re Olunuga: vocals; Karibi Fubara: vocals; Michael Boyd: drum programming; Common: vocals (6); Sheldon Thwaites: drums, percussion; Sula Kalski- Caines: vocals; Neema Lazzaroni: vocals; Ambrose Akinmusire: trumpet (7); Wura Samba: percussion; Priscilla Nzimiro: vocals; Christophe Panzani: flute; Olaitan Dada: vocals; Chima Eluwa-Henshaw: vocals; Uzo Enemanna: vocals.

The Lagos Music Salon

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Somi - If The Rains Come First

Size: 117,9 MB
Time: 50:26
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2009
Styles: Jazz Soul
Art: Front

01. Hot Blue (4:27)
02. Prayer To The Saint Of The Brokenhearted (3:21)
03. Wallflower Blues (4:53)
04. Be Careful, Be Kind (5:12)
05. Enganjyani (5:19)
06. Rising (3:22)
07. Changing Inspiration (3:14)
08. Kuzunguka (4:46)
09. If The Rains Come First (5:09)
10. Jewel Of His Soul (4:31)
11. Maybe Then (6:08)

With a beautiful voice enhanced by overdubbing techniques, Somi joins the elite ranks of first-class world music jazz-influenced singers with this, her third CD. Joined by the likes of the fabulous electric and acoustic keyboardist Toru Dodo, among others, Somi employs an ethereal, surreal, distanced sound, coupled with earthiness and village ceremonial elements to create soulful tunes that by some standards approach pop music, and in other instances, pure romantic spirit songs. Most of the lyrics are in English (she was born in Illinois) and enunciated well, and embrace themes of home, the great outdoors, love, longing, belonging, and wistfully wondering why. But the underlying theme of Africa (her parents were from Rwanda and Uganda, and they lived in Zambia) is present in this music that borders on nu jazz, while employing an instrumental background of uptown metropolitan contemporary styles. Trumpeter Hugh Masakela is one of many guests, feeding Somi's repeated lyric lines during the low-key "Enganjyani," and guitarist David Gilmore works into the mix on the harder samba beat of "Rising," while the creative progressive plectrist Liberty Ellman tones down the light and airy "Changing Inspiration." Nigerian bassist and producer Michael Olatuja is the biggest influence alongside the virtuosic Dodo in shaping Somi's themes, whether on the sweet "Hot Blue" in 6/8 time, the Afro-pop-styled "Wallflower Blues" in a feature for the excellent Senegalese guitarist Hervé Samb, or the rain forest love song title track. A midtempo yodel-based tune, "Kuzunguka" showcases the nature girl in Somi, "Be Careful, Be Kind" is a pretty, introspective ballad, while "Prayer to the Saint of the Brokenhearted" is not so much an African blues as a faster-paced highlife plea loaded with percussion-driven beats. Alicia Olatuja and David Hunter overdub several vocal tracks alongside Somi, who also sings in Swahili and the Ugandan Rutooro dialect of her mother. This completely charming program of songs -- recorded in Paris -- is impossible to put in a specific category. It is heartfelt, conversely deep and light, and attractive in a way that Dido or Rhianna can kill softly with a smile or a whisper, yet Somi chooses to sing simply with little pretense or need for pyrotechnic affectation. ~by Michael G. Nastos

If The Rains Come First

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Somi - Red Soil In My Eyes

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:11
Size: 142,5 MB
Art: Front

( 3:56)  1. Ingele
( 5:02)  2. My Mother's Daughter
( 3:46)  3. Day By Day
( 5:56)  4. Circles
( 7:25)  5. Red Soil In My Eyes
( 4:15)  6. African Lady
( 5:53)  7. Quietly
( 5:43)  8. Losing You
( 5:12)  9. Mbabazi
(14:58) 10. Natural

She was born in Illinois and did most of her growing up in America, but the singer who calls herself Somi that's short for L. Kabasomi Kakoma is the daughter of Rwandan and Ugandan parents, also spent time living in Africa and, due in no small part to the extremes of that experience, has created a seamless merger of cultures, sounds and emotions with this richly textured recording. Red Soil in My Eyes is all elegance and awe, and attempting to reduce Somi's pan-globalism and command of her artistic environment to a single genre or purpose would be a fruitless endeavor. She skates easily between worlds, touching on both smooth and raucous neo-soul, nuanced jazz expression and more than a dollop of East African tradition until something else all together emerges. She sings of nature and of love, life, freedom and faith without forcing distinctions between them. And one gets the impression that she arrives at that juncture effortlessly: many layers unfold throughout these multilingual, genre-busting, continually revealing songs, but the voice itself, wherever it may head, never lets go of its grip. 

"Ingele," the Swahili-sung opening track (a finalist in the world music category of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest), introduces the subtle, sultry side of Somi via a quasi-bossa nova rhythm that ultimately transforms into a platform through which her multi-octave voice dips and flies in several directions. "African Lady," on the other hand, is all rhythm, Fela style (the chorus is based on his "Lady"), delivering a strong anti-domestic violence message sung mainly in English along with its feast of percussion. Somi commands a sizable, virtuosic band throughout much of the album, but ends it on a quiet and poignant note: the hidden bonus track "Remembrance," which she dedicates to the survivors of the Rwandan genocide of 1994. On it, Somi's voice takes on otherworldly characteristics as it rides pure waves of sound, hauntingly reverent, intense and utterly captivating. ~ Jeff Tamarkin http://www.allmusic.com/album/red-soil-in-my-eyes-mw0000583545

Personnel: Somi (Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals), Hervé Samb, Lionel Loueke (guitar); Conrad Harris, Pauline Kim (violin); Dave Eggar (cello); David Lee Jones (saxophone); Jeremy Pelt (trumpet); Toru Dodo (piano); Thierry Arpino (drums); Daniel Moreno (percussion); Rhian Ayanna, Chanda Rule (background vocals).

Red Soil In My Eyes

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Somi - Petite Afrique

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2017
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:57
Size: 122,3 MB
Art: Front

(1:42)  1. Disappearing Act I
(5:15)  2. Alien
(3:05)  3. Black Enough
(4:07)  4. The Wild One
(5:28)  5. They're Like Ghosts
(5:21)  6. The Gentry (feat. Aloe Blacc)
(3:49)  7. Kadiatou the Beautiful
(5:05)  8. Holy Room
(1:15)  9. Disappearing Act II
(3:12) 10. Let Me
(4:29) 11. BLUE
(1:10) 12. Go Back to Your Country (Interlude)
(4:55) 13. Like Dakar
(3:57) 14. Midnight Angels

Somi's debut on the Okeh imprint The Lagos Music Salon (Okeh, 2014) pulled no punches. It tackled tough topics within an African framework, bringing hard truths to bear in soulful fashion. This follow-up is equally impactful, but it shifts focus stateside, eyeing the titular Harlem neighborhood that Somi calls home now.  In addressing life along 116th Street, Somi opens eyes to the cultural ideals and struggles associated with the working class immigrants that reside there while also touching on broader social issues. As with its predecessor, Afrocentric thoughts dominate. But New York, not Nigeria, is the scene for these stories. The album opens with modern field recordings and subway sounds that track toward "Alien," Somi's brilliant repurposing of Sting's "Englishman In New York." While Sting used it to lightheartedly play British standards against American society, Somi uses it as a more somber and serious vehicle to express issues of xenophobia and isolation felt by the African community in America. 

It's but one of many instances where cool musical foundations support heavy issues. As the program continues, Somi's blend of musical sleekness and topical potency continues to carry the day. There's a taste of Afrobeat nouveau in "The Wild One," a slow and soulful "They're Like Ghosts" that's tied to love and yearning for what's been lost, a spryly bounding "The Gentry" that invites vocalist Aloe Blacc to join in on the telling of a tale about the showdown between Harlem's past and present, a positive "Holy Room" that serves as a testament to faith and love while also addressing Islamophobia, and a "Like Dakar" that bridges Mother Africa and Petite Afrique, touching on highs and lows painted in memories. While Somi's mesmerizing vocals are the delivery system that gets each and every point and song across, her band is every bit as important to this project. In bringing together Liberty Ellman's mutable guitar and Toru Dodo's glazed chords, placing them atop vibrant yet understated grooves provided by bassist Michael Olatuja and drummer Nate Smith, adding a touch of strings or a standout guest to color the mix, and occasionally augmenting the band with a horn section that includes trumpeter Etienne Charles, alto saxophonist Jaleel Shaw, and multi-reedist Marcus Strickland, Somi creates a sonic recipe for success. The music and the messages on Petite Afrique prove to be inextricably linked, and it shouldn't be any other way. Somi has crafted another smooth-flowing collection that's both affecting and intoxicating. ~ Dan Bilawsky https://www.allaboutjazz.com/petite-afrique-somi-okeh-review-by-dan-bilawsky.php

Personnel: Somi: vocals; Liberty Ellman: guitar; Nate Smith: drums; Toru Dodo: piano, Rhodes; Michael Olatuja: bass; Keith Witty: percussion, guitar; keyboards, sample programming; electric bass; Marika Hughes: cello (2); Etienne Charles: trumpet (3, 6), mouth percussion (3), percussion (6, 10, 13); Jaleel Shaw: alto saxophone (3, 6, 13); Marcus Strickland: tenor saxophone (3, 6, 13), bass clarinet (13); Mazz Swift: violin (5); Dana Lyn: violin (5); Jessica Troy: viola (5); Aloe Blacc: vocals (6).

Petite Afrique

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