String Driven THINGS
Five key Rhiannon Giddens recordings,
ELEGANZA Because I Knew You (2009)
Vivaldi, Rossini, Irving Berlin and stage show Wicked (from which the title comes), this collaboration with mezzo soprano Cheryse McLeod Lewis reflects the extraordinary richness of Giddens’ free-spirited eclecticism. In a rare holiday from folk, she draws passionately on her conservatory training in bold duets incorporating opera, spirituals and show tunes.
CAROLINA CHOCOLATE DROPS Genuine Negro Jig
(Nonesuch, 2010)
Their third album, this is the one that catapulted the trio from niche revivalists into full-blooded commercial force, through clear-sighted vision and infectious determination. Feisty yet soulful, political but joyous, its fiddle/banjo blasts breathe new fervour into the black string band tradition, with a bit of Tom Waits for good measure.
RHIANNON GIDDENS Tomorrow Is My Turn
(Nonesuch, 2015)
Produced by T Bone Burnett, the first Giddens solo album is a glorious showcase of her furiously varied melting pot of influences. Burnett likened her to Odetta, Mahalia Jackson and Sister Rosetta Tharpe as she plunged into works by Tharpe, Dolly Parton, Charles Aznavour, Libba Cotton… all vigorously reimagined and warmly accomplished.
OUR NATIVE DAUGHTERS Songs Of Our Native Daughters
(Smithsonian Folkways, 2019) Giddens at her most political and committed as co-producer and driving force behind a vocal collaboration with Amythyst Kiah, Leyla McCalla and Alison Russell, exploring the experiences of black American women in material ranging from Bob Marley’s Slave Driver to Giddens’ own charged a cappella number Mama’s Crying Long.
RHIANNON GIDDENS There Is No Other
(Nonesuch, 2019)
On paper, a bizarre partnership that pitches Giddens with jazz improviser (and beau) Francesco Turrisi, but she locates the natural common ground between the roots of baroque, minstrelsy, Arabic rhythms, Appalachian bluegrass and other tributaries. A sparse departure from all her previous work, it frames the singular Giddens voice beautifully.