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CD
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STCD 1129CD
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Amira Kheir, "the diva of the desert" -- as Le Journal du Mali dubbed her and the BBC World News echoed -- has finished her third album, and it has already received a warm welcome. Her first release, View from Somewhere (2011), introduced "an identity that transcends geography," as African Business observed. Songlines described the album as "bold and poetic -- beautiful and fearless." With that, she embarked on three years of performing in settings that ranged from intimate folk clubs and jazz clubs to prominent concert halls and several of the world's most celebrated festivals, earning reviews such as "a charming performer -- comfortable with both high drama and intimate balladry" (The Independent) and "a stunning set infused with many influences but anchored in the sounds and identity of her homeland Sudan" (Fly Global Music). Back in London -- her adoptive home for the past decade -- she recorded her second album, Alsahraa (STCD 1122CD, 2014), in a church with a small acoustic group. "Amira Kheir sings from the heart and soul," Inside World Music praised, and fRoots lauded her "engaging presence" and "lovely honey 'n' spice voice." Ms. Kheir's new album is an elegant collection of traditional songs and dances and original compositions for acoustic and electric instruments in which even the Kurt Weill-Ogden Nash classic, "Speak Low", fits comfortably. The latest issue of Songlines describes Mystic Dance (a five-star "Top of the World" selection) as "an album that hangs in a shimmery ether somewhere between Afro-Latin jazz, desert blues and ancient Sudanese music," and declares "whatever it is, we love it." So will you.
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CD
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STCD 1122CD
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As one of a growing number of her admirers has remarked, Amira Kheir possesses "an identity that transcends geography." Born to Sudanese parents in Italy, Amira grew up in two cultures. She makes her home now in a third -- London, England -- where transcending geography is also what she does with her music. Her original songs blend the folk and classical styles of the Sahara with jazz, Latin grooves and the laid-back side of American soul music, delivered with the vibrancy of multicultural London. Her lyrics, whether in Arabic, Italian or English, explore themes of home, transience, identity and spirituality in the modern world. Amira's debut album, View from Somewhere, has been lauded as "bold and poetic -- beautiful and fearless" (Songlines); "A charming performer -- comfortable with both high drama and intimate balladry" (The Independent). Miss Kheir has appeared on some of the most prestigious stages in Europe and Africa. Her concert has been described as "a stunning set infused with many influences but anchored in the sounds and identity of her homeland, Sudan" (Fly Global Music). Now comes her second release. Recorded in a Gothic chapel with only a guitar, a double bass, hand drums and light touches of other acoustic instruments to accompany Amira's beguiling voice, this album is as starkly beautiful as the place for which it is named: Alsahraa -- The Desert.
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