Joanne Shenandoah's voice is silvery smooth, golden rich, and milky warm. According to Shenandoah, woman of the Iroquois served as spiritual advisors, political counselors, and healers -- placed in positions to temper the aggressive nature of the males. Matriarch is dedicated to members of Shenandoah's clan -- sisters, aunts, grandmothers -- and other key women of the Oneida. Her native language is strong on long vowels, smoother even than Hawaiian; the album is as soothing as a lullaby yet brisk wit...   [ read more ]

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Though Iroquois singer and songwriter Joanne Shenandoah has recorded for numerous labels since the late 1980s -- Canyon, Red Feather, Rhino, and SilverWave -- this best-of only collects material from her five albums from the latter. While this is a solid compilation of that material, it would have been far better if she had licensed music from her other recordings to round this out. The reason is that she has been through a number of stylistic changes and it would have been nice to have all ...   [ read more ]

CD $16.13