SOMI

Red Soil In My Eyes

2007-08-06

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. - AMG

More reviews tagged #World

  • reviewed 07/2004

    Lila Downs
    Una Sangre/One Blood

  • reviewed 07/2006

    BLACKMORE’S NIGHT
    The Village Lanterne

  • reviewed 09/2009

    NII OTOO ANNAN AND STEVEN FELD
    Bufo Variations

  • reviewed 02/2007

    OJOS DE BRUJO
    Techarí

  • reviewed 01/2005

    Astor Piazzolla
    The Rough Guide to Astor Piazzolla

  • reviewed 07/2007

    DOBET GNAHORE
    Na Afriki

Compiled by the WYCE Journalism Club

The opinions expressed in these reviews are those of the individual volunteers that submitted the article and do not necessarily reflect the views of WYCE or GRCMC; nor its staff, donors, or affiliates.