WOMEN OF THE WORLD
by Michael Koretzky


While many female vocalists aren't as dominant in world music as in jazz, their presence is still profound.  Often, the traditional cultures in which women grew up imposed strict roles upon them.  But, here are a few who have successfully tweaked tradition.

•Fado Curvo by MARIZA (Times Square) - Mariza Nunes looks more adventurous than she sounds.  Onstage, the close-cropped blonde defies the usual pose of the fado singer.  Instead of standing motionless while belting out the traditional, baleful music of Portugal, Mariza can strut onstage like a Top-40 diva while adding some jazz and blues inflictions - even sampling Pink Floyd, if she's so inclined.  Yet this album and last year's debut, Fado em Mim (Times Square), are the most mellow and accessible albums on this list - no one on any continent will be offered by the sad, slow songs or have trouble finding the melody in the title track.  Mariza - who was born in Mozambique, raised in Portugal, and originally signed to a Dutch label - has taken fado ("destiny" in English) beyond its original borders and is now selling out concerts in places like Bangkok. www.mariza.com

•Yol Bolsin by SEVARA NAZARKHAN (Real World) - Nazarkhan looks like a rock star but possesses a voice that bears the wisdom of a middle-aged diva.  The 25-year-old beauty from Uzbekistan strikes an MTV pose on the back of her debut album, holding lute-like doutar the way Sheryl Crow might cradle her guitar.  Yet the album cover depicts a wistful Nazarkhan, clad in a long red robe.  It's indicative of the album's contents, which balance perfectly between the traditional (the opening track is a folk song about a bride moving into the home of her husband and his parents) and the modern (keyboards, loops, and other "sonic treatments" are obvious but not overdone on "El Nozanin" and the title track).  These 11 subtle tracks are intoxicating and even bittersweet.  www.realworldrecords.com

•The Indipop Retrospective by SHEILA CHANDRA (Narada) - Born in England to Indian immigrants, Chandra was a star at 17, singing with the world-pop band Monsoon and scoring a British Top-10 hit with "Ever So Lonely."  But when follow-up efforts failed to chart, Chandra walked away.  She signed with Indipop, a small label, and released five solo albums that were varied, personal, and definitely not commercial.  These 12 tracks cover this experimental period and, during the first casual listen, all sound alike: atmospheric soundscapes that feature Chandra's layered Indian and arabesque chanting over sparse, droning instrumentation ranging from electronic keyboards to zithers and sitars.  But a careful second listen reveals subtle melodies, with the excerpt from "Nada Brahma" the most infectious, and the scratchy "Mien" the most atonal and annoying.  www.naranda.com

 •Tarantelle & Canti d'Amore by ALESSANDRA BELLONI (Naxos World) - The album title is Italian for "Dances of the Spider & Love Songs."  The story behind it is as fascinating as the music:  The tarantella was an ancient southern Italian dance ritual to heal a mental illness called tarantismo, which supposedly afflicted women with depression and hysteria and was believed to be caused by a tarantula bite.  The women would dance for days, lost in an erotic and hypnotic trance, to tambourine music performed by other women.  Belloni, an authority on her region's ancient dances and rituals, plays a large tambourine called a Tammorra Napoletana.  However her voice - sometimes operatic, sometimes folksy - puts the flesh and blood on songs like the work chant "Fronni d'Alia" and the lullaby "Nia Nia."  Her two originals  ("La Notte delle Stelle Cadenti" and "Palomma d'Ammore") stand up well to the 13 other tunes written centuries ago.   www.naxosworld.com

•Electro Bamako by MAMANI KEITA & MARC MINELLI (Palm Pictures) - Before this collaboration, the former backup singer for African star Salif Keita knew nothing about electronic music and the Paris-born composer/arranger had never been to Bamako, the country where Keita was born.  Minelli made the trip, met Keita, and she reciprocated: These 10 sometimes-jazzy, sometimes-techno, but always-African tracks were recorded in Paris.  They feature instruments both traditional (bafalon, n'goni) and classical (cello, clarinet), but Keita's voice holds it all together and elevates the album into the Top-10 African discs of 2003.  www.palmpictures.com