Rhiannon Giddens is phenomenal!!! She is also an excellent banjo and fiddle player on top of being an amazing vocalist. One of my favorite artists I've discovered in the last couple of years...this coming from primarily a punk/metalhead. (Heilung is also on the newer favorite artists list)
Yeah I also only just discovered her in the last few years, and I'm not traditionally a fan of Folk or Bluegrass either. But I first heard her singing in the Red Dead Redemption 2 game and was blown away by her voice, so I decided to look more into her music since then. Very underrated artist. I mean, how can you say otherwise? To be a multiple time Grammy award winner, and yet she's still very unknown.
The instruments you asked about are the Tabla Drums (India) played by Sandeep Das. Wu Man is playing the Pipa (China). The kamancheh (spike fiddle from Persia) is played by Kayhan Kalhor. Kaoru Watanabe is playing the Japanese flute (sorry I don't know the name). Haruka Fujii is the percussionist playing 'the jug like' instrument. Mazz Swift was the backing vocals. She and Colin Jacobsen were the violinists. Mario Gotoh played the Viola. The cellist was Karen Ouzounian. Edward Perez and Shawn Coley were the Bass players. Maeve Gilchrist on the Celtic Harp. Shane Shanahan and Joseph Gramley were the other percussionists. The 'hand' you noted on the screen was the Visual Artist Kevork Mourad. I had the privilege to be in the audience to see this late November 2021. "O' Death" and "Conversations with Death", is a traditional Appalachian folk song, generally attributed to the musician and Baptist preacher Lloyd Chandler. (Per Wikipedia) It is popular in Appalachia in the Primitive Baptist and Methodist churches. What you heard is the hymn done using spiritual phrasing. Giddens sang it on her Grammy-winning album They're Calling Me Home.
Thank you! I so envy you getting to be there to see this! I saw Rhiannon several times with the Chocolate Drops, and saw her sing with her sister once, but nothing like this. ❤🎶
I think the word you might have been looking for is “Spirituals”. One of the reasons I sent this is that there is some similarities with Heilung in the soundscape. The song, Oh Death, is a traditional Appalachian folk song. I’m so glad y’all like this one! ❤️🎶
I think what Rhiannon is most well known for singing is called Americana. It's really disappointing that more people don't know this fabulous artist and very few people react to her. This piece of music is really interesting but doesn't show off Rhiannon's talented vocals. To understand what she's capable of I'd suggest you try her interpretation of the classic Wayfaring Stranger. It is disappointing that there are so few views and comments for this video.
