"Dance Mama!" Soul Audio Review

Very often an artist’s debut recording is safe, easy listening. Christine Vaindirlis’ Dance Mama (excuse the missing exclamation mark) is anything but safe, easy listening – in fact, this debut project from the brilliant young artist is complex, challenging, meaty music designed to move your body, speak to your spirit, and engage your mind. Currently residing in Brooklyn, New York, Christine’s ten-song album reflects her South African roots but also incorporates a sophisticated command of urban American sounds.

In a musical landscape that exists somewhere between World Music, jazz, South African folk, pop and funk, you have Dance Mama. The very personal album starts off with “Indaba (Home)” inviting us to “a place where the music never sleeps – where there’s dancing and singing, and jamming ’till morning,” and dance you will, to tight, funky jams like the explosive “Call to Freedom,” “No More Drama,” the delightfully Afro-zydeco “Down by the River,” and, of course, the title-track.

Aside from the occasional penny whistle, accordion, talking drums, and unique percussion, the very impressive core band consists of guitar, drums, bass, and keyboards (listen for some stunning piano work by a young lady named Hiromi!) backed up by a sizzling-hot horn section that will delight fans of Tower of Power or Seawind.

Christine’s fine voice is featured on each track. Possessing a wide and flexible range, she handles lead and background vocals equally well, sounding joyful, powerful, sassy, or sensitive according to what each song calls for.

The infectious songs are structurally complex without being pretentious or over-indulgent. With tracks ranging from four minutes to over nine minutes in length, Christine gives you the best that she and her stunning group of musicians have to offer. It’s not unusual for songs – like “Fighting or Surviving,” for example – to take a surprising turn and get into some hard-core acid-jazz jams. Compositions venture seamlessly in and out of major and minor keys in support of the strong lyrics and melody lines, a technique heard to good effect on “Hear the Call to Freedom.” Of course, Vaindirlis has a softer, more introspective side as well, and shows that side on tracks like the jazzy ballad, “Making it Home, Someday,” which closes the project.

Lyrically, Christine’s soul is on display between the lines. There’s an obvious homage to her homeland throughout the CD, but this artist, after all, is now a New Yorker and shows us a feistier persona on songs like “No More Drama” and the show-stopping mega-jam, “Tell Me.” Trust me – once she tells you you’ll know you’ve been told…. Permeating everything, though, is a spirituality and acknowledgment of God that tempers even that strong track (“and how’s your soul? Don’t you know that you will reap back…”).

Vaindirlis pulls out all of the creative stops as producer, writer, arranger, and vocalist on this ambitious work – even to the point of creating the artwork for the beautifully packaged CD. Fans of Miriam Makeba, Ladysmith Black Mombazo, and Basia should look into this album, but fans of soul, r&b, and horn-fronted funk bands should enjoy it equally as well. The truth is, Christine Vaindirlis’ Dance Mama just isn’t easy to label.

And that’s exactly what I, for one, have been looking for.