Angelique Kidjo – World Music Portraits
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extra: D Program: B-
Arte Video’s World Music Portraits series is
designed to expose some very talented artists not heard of in the United States
to U.S. audiences. With the state of
music today, they cannot release enough of them. The volume on vocalist Angelique Kidjo introduces us to a
woman dubbed the African version of Edith Piaf. High complement indeed.
Besides hearing her amazing voice and seeing her amazing
energy in concert, she takes on a tour of her homeland Benin, visits places she
has not been to in years and shows us aspects of her society and societies
nearby you never hear about in the U.S., so this program goes beyond her music,
while also showing its roots.
The way she connects with people is wonderful, on and off
stage, and she has thoughts to share worth hearing. Her music is not highly political, but is far from
pointless. You do not even need
subtitles to know and hear that she is an artist who performs form a point of
strength and knowledge. She has great
stage presence and I would not be surprise if we saw her surface in some
surprise way down the line.
The letterboxed 16 X 9/1.78 X 1 image is not
anamorphically enhanced, but is not bad.
I doubt this is High Definition, but the footage is quality video that
is clean and as sharp as it can be under the circumstances. The Dolby Digital 2.0 is Stereo and is not
bad either, but there are no extras.
When watching, I occasionally thought of Grace Jones, though
Miss Kidjo is not doing New Wave or the latest Avant Garde fashion. The common denominator is heritage and
boldness, but Kidjo remains unique and it is no wonder she is so popular in her
country. Angelique Kidjo - World
Music Portraits runs only 53 minutes, but is worth your time.
- Nicholas Sheffo
