Sudan music reviews

Three great singers from Sudan, Castile and Galicia have gathered together to just enjoy the simple pleasure of singing. In this very stripped-down production, there is room for the singers to explore their individual styles and their different group dynamics. The music is often just guitar or percussion, or simple combinations of the two, with a touch of bass on a few tracks. Jesús Pimentel, the guitarist here, offers a beguiling range of rhythms from flamenco, Cuban, and Galician roots that are richly ornamented, but always in the service of the vocalists. The various combinations of Uxia's huskiness, Rasha's open chant, and Maria Salgado's Cuban-tinged Castilian formality offer interesting looks at music from the Caribbean, Spain, and Portugal. The album is evenly divided by solo pieces (with the others often supplying choral backing) and full trio works where everyone explores some unusual harmonies by reaching into their own experience for both common ground and unique contrasts. --Louis Gibson