Voices of Life

Originally released in 2000, this album features the sensational voices of The Bulgarian Women's Choir briefly joined by legendary musicians Eddie Jobson (acoustic and electric violin), Tony Levin (bass) and Bill Bruford (drums). Produced by Jobson and recorded in 1999 for a documentary, Voices of Life finds the Bulgarian Women's Choir - best known for their ground-breaking La Mystere des Voix Bulgaires album - in fine form, sounding as wonderful as ever. There are moments of sheer beauty mixed with deep emotions. This collaboration with Jobson is one of their finest releases.

After listening to the Bulgarian Women's Choir one might think Bulgaria is the most wondrous country on the planet. And in some ways it is. Geographically it lies where the origins of the Western musical scale developed, but the music made there was isolated for centuries after the Eastern Orthodox Church split from the Roman Catholic Church. The result is a choral ensemble such as BWC, whose sound is born somewhere between the medieval Byzantine church and the Eastern European mountains. While the vocals are piercing and plaintive, they're also heavenly and childlike, and this is the complex beauty of the Bulgarian Women's Choir.

Recorded in 1999 for a forthcoming documentary, Voices of Life beautifully displays the ensemble's bold harmonics, wavering tonality, and yodel-like whooping. The effect is chilling when the pitch drastically fluctuates under their masterful throat control, as on "Pilentze Pee," or when the sorrow explodes forth via a soloist, as on "Kalimanko Denko." Unlike the collaboration with Africa's Ray Lema or the electronic dance treatment of From Bulgaria with Love, this collaboration with writer-producer Eddie Jobson is not a miss. In fact, it's a direct hit, thanks to Jobson's deep understanding of and respect for this style of Bulgarian music. Listen, and be amazed. --Karen K. Hugg