Lounging in Shanghai

On a journey from old Shanghai to modern Africa, GRAHAM REID turns the dial to music from elsewhere


Shanghai has always been China's hotspot, the most cosmopolitan of cities in that vast and diverse country. In the 20s and 30s the place was awash with jazz, blues and international pop thanks to the international community, and that rubbed alongside the local folk, Mandarin pop and opera.

At one time there were 30 radio stations in Shanghai and nightclubs were everywhere.

The Pathe label recorded dozens of local singers, many of whom had grown up on imported music and by the late 40s were covering Hollywood standards and the music of Ella Fitzgerald and Judy Garland.

Of course the communist revolution put paid to a lot of careers (not to mention decadent nightclubs and jazz bands) but last year a remarkable thing happened.

EMI was clearing out a warehouse in Mumbai (Bombay) and discovered two large boxes which contained the original imprinters of the old Pathe 78s from Shanghai. There were almost 800 of them and they had been shipped to Mumbai where the discs were manufactured.

Or maybe none of that happened and it's just a good story.

No matter, because EMI in Hong Kong, where it is now based, called in local producer Morton Wilson (yes, of the 80s Kiwi band Schtung) and dance producer Ian Widgery (who has remixed for Bowie and Human League) to duff up the originals with contemporary beats.

The result is Shanghai Lounge Divas, one disc of the original songs and the other of the remixes.

Let it be said immediately: women lounge singers from China don't have the most appealing of voices for Western ears (they can be a bit shrill for our tastes) and that the beats added can be somewhat mundane in places.

However, there is much to enjoy in the well-annotated collection, especially if you have fond memories of Malcolm McLaren's Madame Butterfly thing.

And there are some quite outstanding tracks among the remixes: Waiting 4 U by Bai Kwong has a beguiling melody and memorable hook and is remixed like the tasteful atmospheric parts from Riders on the Storm; If Only by Li Xiang-lan soars in a pop-operatic manner; and both All the Stars in the Sky (by Chang Loo) and This Love is Not For Me (Yao Lee) are aimed neatly at smart clubs and dance floors.

The second disc of 24 originals might be more for the scholarly, but the remixes soften you up for it. The arrangements are pure jazz-cabaret from the 30s with clarinets and piano, and again there are standouts: Shanghai Miss (among many others) could have stepped out of any kitschy Hollywood musical. Fascinating stuff.

For more serious world music tastes comes the great singer and koro player from West Africa, Mory Kante.

Most people don't get artists like Kante, Youssou N'Dour, Fanta Damba or Salif Keita until they turn up at a Womad, or they sit in someone's backyard over summer and hear an album in its mesmerising entirety. Kante's Sabou offers 10 persuasive slices of traditional sounds which step back from the Western elements he has always toyed with (to great success it must be said, his electro-hit Yeke Yeke was up there with Manu Dibango for sheer dance-ability). But here it is down to the joyous interplay of kora and balafon, and some great songs. Check the hypnotic and clever Djou as a sampler.

Daby Toure was born on the banks of the Senegal River but left to join the group his uncles founded, the famous Toure Kunda, in Paris. Diam is his debut solo album and although he has discreet assistance from others on keyboards and harmony vocals, it is very much a one-man outing and mighty impressive. Toure is a singer-songwriter and with acoustic guitar (and other stringed instruments) he offers gentle quasi-folk ballads which engage through softness rather than assertion. He rarely works up a sweat but the trickle of guitar sounds and gentle patter of percussion is very likeable. However, the killer cut is Kelimanta with a slash of electric guitar kicking things into gear and spiralling into a tricky solo. Otherwise, a bit too polite for these ears.

Being located somewhere between Joan Armatrading and Buffy Sainte-Marie is always going to be all right by me, and Rokia Traore from Mali fits in very neatly. On Bowmboi she displays a gorgeously appealing, quavering voice and that magical, discrete instrumentation of West African instruments like talking drum is augmented in a couple of places by the Kronos Quartet and an electric bass. It's a remarkable cross-cultural leap which Traore manages effortlessly. Little wonder the album picked up the gong for world music album at the BBC Radio 3 awards. And she bop-pops out on the hidden track.

VARIOUS: SHANGHAI LOUNGE DIVAS

Herald rating: * * * *

Label: EMI


Double-disc collection of 30s nightclub singers from the place once known as the Paris of the Orient, one disc being living room-friendly remixes

MORY KANTE: SABOU

Herald rating: * * *

Label: RIVERBOAT


West African superstar delivers uplifting dance and ballads, all in his own magical if impenetrable language

DABY TOURE: DIAM
Herald rating: * * *

Label: REAL WORLD


Ben Harper in looks, vapid folkie in sound from one of the great families of Senegalese music

ROKIA TRAORE: BOWMBOI

Herald rating: * * * * *

Label: MRA


An extraordinary new talent from Mali looks set for a career which effortlessly juggles deep emotions with magnetic pop