Some historical background may be necessary. Something people should know is that music in Ethiopia was crushed during the Derg regime. Curfews were imposed, driving most bands out of work as the clubs they played at were destroyed. Many musicians were imprisoned and many others either became unemployed or took up other professions. Live music died in Ethiopia for 20 years as the only available employment was in hotel bars and lounges, leading to a domination of Ethiopian music by synths & drum machines.

What Gigi has done on her new album is bring back horn-sections, live bands, and a sense of experimentation that began during the era documented on the Ethiopiques CD-series, what I refer to as (if you'll allow the phrase) "classic modern Ethiopian music." By that I'm referring to Ethiopian music from the mid-60's thru mid -70's that kept an Ethiopian sensibility while incorporating stuff from a lot of different sources.

The most heartening thing to me is that every musician in Addis I've spoken to loves her album. Gigi has reawakened musicians here to the potentials inherent in our form of music and mutant recombinations thereof.

Gigi currently carries a major burden. Many see her as the person who can change the current direction of Ethiopian music by taking it back to live instrumentation and experimentation. She is doing that at present, but it is a heavy burden to bear for one person. Most Ethiopian singers have no involvement in the album other than singing; and Gigi sings, writes, arranges and is pretty involved in production; because of that, fair or not, people expect more of her.

So, the new album; I think it sounds gorgeous. I do love the album musically and don't want to make it sound interesting for purely abstract reasons. There is a reason that Ethiopians gave her the name 'Gift from God'; she has a beautiful voice. The album itself has great horns, funky arrangements, and of course some big names on the album. It includes jazz legends Herbie Hancock, Pharaoh Sanders, and Wayne Shorter; avant-jazz composer/musician/arranger Henry Threadgill; Karsh Kale a New York-based electronic musician who is linked to the Talvin Singh crew, and many others. Gigi is still not overpowered by this incredible list of musicians, which in itself, I think, makes a convincing argument about her inherent talent and strengths.

It is an album of love songs. Songs that speak of her love for Ethiopia, and songs that explore various sentiments and stages in relationships. Passion infuses the album. The music is impeccably played and it is clear that a lot of time and effort went spent on production. My (relatively minor) quibbles are that on some songs the tendency in the rhythm tracks is to move towards too bland a global-fusion sound. I also wish that a wider range of instruments had been utilized, there is still too much of an emphasis on electronics for my taste. Iain Harris of afribeat had commented to me that he'd

"...like to hear her voice soaring amongst more complex instrumentation, I find that Laswell's production is tight but feel that there could be so much more texture. Her voice as an instrument is let down by the dreamy backdrop, she needs more punch behind her voice, more interplay between music and voice."