WOMAD

Diana Hamilton

From Bahamas, France

In the still-to-be-written Complete History Of Caribbean Music, the Bahamas will claim a far slimmer chapter than those of noisier islands like Jamaica or Trinidad. The late bluesman Joseph Spence remains the best-known Bahamian musical export, while individual songs like Sloop John B (as adopted by the Beach Boys) and The Beginning Of The End’s Funky Nassau temporarily shifted the spotlight towards the islands. But that’s largely it. So, allow Diana Hamilton to redress the balance. Now resident in France, her album A Bahamian In Paris coolly sets out her stall. Calypso, reggae, lounge jazz, chanson, zydeco and the indigenous style junkanoo all come gently wafting out, but this is no cynical, tick-all-the-boxes attempt to conquer the European world music market. It’s simply Diana picking up whatever’s close to hand, making a refreshingly unpretentious record in the process. Her voice is equally charming, sounding – whether singing in English or French – not unlike a Bahamian cross between Ella Fitzgerald and Macy Gray. Distinctly proud of her roots, Diana’s passionate in reinstating the cultural impact of her home islands – in the words of compatriot Ronnie Butler’s track Burma Road (a Kershaw favourite from many moons ago), “it’s a Bahamian thing”.In A Few Words… Charming genre-crossing from the Bahamian chanteuse