Rhiannon Giddens review – contagious delight and furious defiance

Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London
From slavery to the civil rights struggle, Giddens’s material covers solemn material but her history lessons are thrilling and delivered with pure enjoyment

History is my biggest teacher,” says Rhiannon Giddens, introducing At the Purchaser’s Option, written after her research into slavery uncovered a chilling advert from the 1830s. It announced the sale of a “smart healthy Negro Wench”, and added, “she has a child about nine months old, which will be at the purchaser’s option”. Giddens transformed this bleak discovery into a furious cry of defiance, the most pained and powerful song of a triumphant and varied set.

After several years playing pre-war African-American string band music with the Grammy-winning Carolina Chocolate Drops, Giddens has expanded her range with dramatic results. Two years ago, her first solo album reworked songs by great women singers from Bessie Smith to Patsy Cline; this year’s Freedom Highway is dominated by her own material and its stories of the civil rights struggle.

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from Music | The Guardian http://ift.tt/2mKQVzG

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