Christine Salem: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

Her voice feels old, but it s got power that s young and vibrant. In fact, Christine Salem sings songs that are old: They re work songs and chants from the maloya tradition on Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean. I first heard her in New York City as she shook a flat board called a kayamb, made of cane reeds, with two percussionists flanking her to provide rhythm. Salem makes powerful, strongly focused music in which all the elements are essential, with nothing superfluous. She says it feels like the