selected articles "American Roots Music" Martha Stewart Living "New Spins on Standards" Martha Stewart Living "LoveCat's Label a Litter of International Music" Billboard "Chicks Hatch a Winning Pitch Plan" Billboard "Songs for Folks and Angels" An Interview with Odetta WIM: Women in Music Quarterly "Dipping Into the Strange Well" An Interview with Jane Siberry WIM: Women in Music Quarterly "From Beethoven to the Big Top" An Interview with Linda Hudes WIM: Women in Music Quarterly CD Review: Ani DiFranco Evolve Relix CD Review: Patty Larkin Red = Luck Relix CD Review: Shannon Curfman Loud Guitars, Big Suspicions Zipidee.com CD Review: Leona Naess Comatized Zipidee.com

CD REVIEW: Ani DiFranco Evolve (Righteous Babe) By Caroline Horn For years, feminists insisted that the personal is political. Then, in came Ani DiFranco explaining, song by song, that actually, folks, the political is very, very personal. On Evolve, the folk-funk-slam-poet again serves up diary-worthy details, continuing to avoid sentimental self-absorption with her blistering musical talent. The same water-tight ensemble from 2001's Revelling/Reckoning helps DiFranco bring jazz elements into her hybrid sound. "Promised Land" opens the album with cascading organ and brass swells. On "Slide," the syncopated horns and vocals nod to Joni Mitchell's Court and Spark as DiFranco's acoustic strumming leads the band into a rock groove that's thrillingly crisp. "O My My" surprises with a turn-off into Dixieland. It's an exciting new release proving once again that there's nothing DiFranco's afraid to say—or play. © 2003 Relix. All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication is a violation of applicable laws.