Elleen Burhum

Vocalist Elleen Burhum grew up in Berlin, Germany with a Germab/Arab background, but when her parents traveled to Peru, it was there that they found a new home to embrace. From the roots of her youth to the roots she would create towards becoming a woman, Burhum would take in all of these elements and combine them to create an "ethnic fusion" that is exciting, graceful, and chilling at the same time.

Origen (Musica Vivencial) touches on everything that has come through in her life, and the music is a collage of things that make up the woman she is today. There are bits of electronica, Indian classical, folk, salsa, and Peruvian sounds heard throughout these songs, which should appeal to fans of Enya, Ofra Haza, Bjork, and Sarah MacLachlan. By moving back and forth with electronic-based soundscapes and original ethnic forms, she is able to bring together the old world with the new. Some have some "new age" touches while others may remind people of the music of Enigma and Praise.

Runa Simi has Burhum teaming up with guitarist Shin Sasakubo. The album consists of Traditional Peruvian Andean music, and the unique thing about this recording is that the majority of it is acoustic. Both of them celebrate the culture which both have embraced, and with "Tiempo De Sakura", Sasakubo is able to share his Japanese heritage within a Peruvian context, and the way it's done has to be heard to be believed, it's a deeply felt thank you card.

Both Burhum and Sasakubo also incorporate other sounds of South America and Africa to demonstrate how music and people have traveled, and to perhaps give home to those who wonder about the travels of tomorrow. Both Origen and Runa Simi are albums about the human condition, and proves once again that regardless of language barriers, we all speak in one voice in the hopes listeners will be able to hear (and more importantly live) as one.



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