Word: singer
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...season-opening production of Otello at the Met that marked her professional coming of age, says Fleming's Desdemona "already ranks with the very best." The late Sir Georg Solti was instrumental in persuading London Records to sign her to an exclusive contract, making her the first American singer signed by the Europe-based label since Marilyn Horne...
Achieving a satisfying balance between work and home is essential to Fleming. "There was a time when singers felt it was an either-or situation," she explains, "but that's not true anymore. Opera companies take my child-care problems seriously. And of course I have something not every singer has, which is an extremely supportive husband." But, then, this thoroughly modern diva does everything her way, from wrapping up her recitals with a group of songs by Duke Ellington to scrupulously avoiding the knife-in-the-back behavior that has given so many top singers a bad name...
...rush of recent albums by young performers provides part of the answer. There's pop singer Diana King with her new release, Think Like a Girl (Work Group); the hip-hop-charged star Capleton with his album I-Testament (Def Jam); and trip-hop-tinged newcomer Finley Quaye with his debut CD Maverick a Strike (550 Music). A much more established star, South African traditionalist Lucky Dube, also has a new CD out, Taxman (Shanachie). The fact that reggae, like a nation secure enough to welcome new immigrants, is able to nurture such a varied group of up-and-comers...
Capleton's I-Testament comes on forcefully from the start. On the Jamaican-born singer's previous CD, Prophecy, he performed alongside rapper Method Man of the American hardcore hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan. I-Testament also boasts street-wise, street-tough swagger. Capleton's vocals are a mix of slurred rap, chanting and Jamaican patois, supported by R.-and-B. backup singers. His songs are often built around samples; Original Man draws liberally from the bass groove of Lou Reed's Walk on the Wild Side. Capleton's talent lies in his ability to fuse gangsta-rap energy...
There is something oceanic about the music of singer-songwriter Alana Davis, 23. Her enchanting debut album, Blame It on Me (Elektra), has a pacific calm to it, undulating with soft folk, light jazz and warm R. and B., and yet, beneath the serene surface, one senses a depth, a power, precious things hidden away like sunken treasure ships. In concert one gets more of a glimpse: Davis has a sensuous, sliding alto, young and vibrant, but infused with old, smoky blues. She is a major new talent...