Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
No matter where we believe we are from, the sound of Africa still resonates deep in our soul and in our species’ memory, we find ourselves looking to that continent with awe and with trepidation. It should be argued more vigorously that we have all been party to its suffering, that it still, despite its natural beauty and deep secrets, has scars that potentially will never heal, not properly, not with the sense that right minded people would like it be, more than bountiful, more than flourishing, it should be lauded and prized as a beacon of that is good and beautiful.
The celebration of the voice of Africa, of the union between that continent and the country that produced in abundance some of the greatest female voices of the age is one way to redress the scales of injustice to a degree. In the soul and hands of Andrea Baker, what comes through is a dynamic of understanding, both for the appreciation of Mezzo Soprano voice but the voice of a continent, of a deep love for African-American spirit; it is a spirit that rejoices in the passion that announces Sing Sistah Sing!
Across the traditional, the musical, the flamboyance of the popular hit, or in the special quality of Bizet or the absolute genius that flowed through Billie Holliday, the voice of Ms. Baker is resolute, deeply filled passion reigns but also something unnervingly raised in truth comes through, memory, a recollection that makes this first work conceived by the artist to be recognised as hope, as spiritual faith that made the music possible.
In tracks such as the opener Another Man Done Gone, God Bless The Child, the exquisite and rebellious aria Habanera from Bizet’s opera Carmen, Verdi’s Strida la Vampa, How High The Moon, a crafted medley from Porgy and Bess and the Pop medley which includes moments from Donna Summer, Gerry Goffin and Areatha Franklin, Ms. Baker captivates and thrills the senses to the point of flawless interpretation.
Sing Sistah Sing! is the praise of memory, a hand on heart moment that both illuminates and lifts our souls high and makes us bow our heads in the solemnity of the grace shown by Andrea Baker.
Ian D. Hall