FILTER ALBUMS
All heart
The multidisciplinary powerhouse brings a big band to her first set of originals.
By Grayson Haver Currin.
Rhiannon Giddens
★★★
You’re The One
NONESUCH. CD/DL/LP
Rhiannon Giddens: too powerful to fit the LP’s humble scale.
FEW AMERICAN performers this century are more accomplished and important than Rhiannon Giddens. Two decades ago, the conservatory-trained opera singer pulled back the closely guarded shades on the historical importance of African-Americans in her country’s stringband tradition via the riveting Carolina Chocolate Drops. Her career has since spun in a dozen different directions, from Pulitzer-winning opera composer to Grammy-winning folk interpreter, from joyous television host to children’s book author. Her work typically upends racist power structures to reveal the purposefully obscured accomplishments of black forebears or how their work built the foundation of American wealth. Giddens applies a ravenous mind and unwavering gumption to whatever storytelling medium avails itself.