If there's one word that Natacha Atlas' fans use most often to describe the singer, it's "goddess" - as in "Natacha is such a frigging goddess!" (a YouTube comment) and "She's the goddess of funky belly dancers everywhere" (a review at RootsWorld magazine) and "It's simple, really: Natacha is a musical Goddess" (a write-up at Amazon.com). Yes, Atlas' voice - a heavenly gift that trills and reverberates with emotion - makes her stand out, as do her striking looks and belly-dance moves, but it's Atlas' theatrical style (she dressed as an Egyptian queen for the cover of her 1995 debut album, "Diaspora") that solidifies her image as a diva of the highest order.
Atlas, 44, who speaks with an impeccable British accent but sings mostly in Arabic, is known to send her fans into states of apoplexy. In Finland, for example, one fan was so struck by the atmospheric, Arab-oriented music on "Diaspora" that he took to studying Arabic for the next 10 years. Introducing himself to Atlas in 2006 when she performed in Helsinki, he spoke in a classical Arabic that even exceeded her fluent level.
"I was like, 'Wow,' " Atlas says, talking on the phone from her home outside London. "I was extremely flattered that I could have that effect."
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When Atlas appears Thursday at the San Francisco Jazz Festival, she will perform her new album's songs, which are less frenetic than usual for her but are still infused with Atlas-style theatricality. Take "Ana Hina" ("I Am Here"), the release's title track, which is a flute- and accordion-accompanied elegy about love and longing that has Atlas wailing, "Whether seas, mountains or rivers part us, you will find me." The song mirrors another song on the album, "Black Is the Colour," a reprise of the Nina Simone hit that has Atlas dissecting her unequivocal passion for a man she calls "strong" and "wondrous."
The album's acoustic, mostly slow- and medium-tempo tunes may seem like a dramatic departure for Atlas, but she says they're linked to her previous body of work in a key way: They're a musical fusion of East and West. "Diaspora" found an audience worldwide because of its arresting mix of musical instruments (including guitar, violin, oud and darbouka), electronica and dance-hall beats, sultry settings and English-Arabic lyrics that were almost cinematic in their orchestration. (One cut, "Yalla Chant," took the Arabic pronouncement for "Let's go" - yalla - and turned it into a trippy celebration of "the rhythm of the universe.") By contrast, "Ana Hina" features decades-old Arabic songs that have been tweaked - almost into cabaret style - by British arranger Harvey Brough, whose work includes the score for Stanley Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut." Music critics have hailed the album as Atlas' best.
"I have really wanted to do an album like this (for years)," Atlas says, "but I just didn't feel ready."
Atlas, whose father is Egyptian and whose mother was British, lived her first eight years in a Moroccan neighborhood near Brussels, then moved - when her parents divorced - to England, where she maintained her love of Arabic music. Her success at hybridizing the music for new generation of fans, even those who don't know Arabic, distinguishes her from the famous Arab artists (like Lebanon's Fairuz) she grew up admiring. Hollywood producers regularly seek out Atlas to give their soundtracks a special voice. Her singing can be heard in two James Bond films - 1999's "The World Is Not Enough" and 2002's "Die Another Day," big-budget thrillers that match Atlas' own sense of style and flair.
Read Full ArticleSan Francisco Jazz Festival: "Middle Eastern Masters," featuring singer Natacha Atlas and oud player Rahim AlHaj. 7:30 p.m. Thurs. Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco. $20-$60. (866) 920-5299 (tickets) or (415) 788-7353 (information), www.sfjazz.org.