Black Ivory Soul
Angélique  Kidjo's previous albums have been decidedly patchy affairs, with tracks  ranging from the sublime to the abysmal. WithBlack Ivory Soul, however,  Kidjo strikes a lovely and generally consistent note. Exploring the connections  between her native Benin and Brazil's Bahia region, she makes beautiful music  flavored by two continents on songs such as "Tumba," with its crisp but subtle  percussion driving a lilting melody, or "Afrika," where the cascading notes of  thekorahelp bridge the Atlantic. Co-writing with talents like Carlinhos  Brown and Vinícius Cantuária has helped; they've toned down the  R&B; influence than ran throughOremiand replaced it  with something more individual. Kidjo sounds strongest when she's very rootsy,  as on her cover of Gilberto Gil's "Refavela," which stands in stark contrast to  the bland "Iwoya," a duet with Dave Matthews that sounds like nothing more than  a calculated shot at radio airplay. Even the odd track out, a version of "Ces  Petits Riens" by Serge Gainsbourg, works because of its spare delight. In  following her muse and her history, Kidjo has produced her best work to date.--Chris Nickson