第一次聽到 Asa(讀「阿霞」、A-sha)的歌聲，以為來自新一代 Reggae 女歌手；多聽幾首，便感受到音樂中驚人的多元性，由經典雷鬼樂手 Bob Marley 、現代 R&B 歌手 Lauryn Hill 、到 Erykah Badu 的靈魂樂風皆若隱若現，但毫不影響 Asa 的獨特性、wholesome 感(簡直像...武俠小說裡集各家功夫、卻渾然自成一家的小俠)。

知道她的巴黎 - 奈及利亞 - 巴黎 - 倫敦背景經歷後，難免想起她的同鄉 Sade Adu 與同名樂團 Sade。不過，Asa 的音樂內容與 Sade 各有路線、千秋(Sade 好像沒唱過什麼祖裔語言歌曲、也沒有那麼強烈的非洲大陸之根感)，更沒有曾當過模特兒的 Sade 那般美貌。

無所不包的音樂風、隨興 Style、歐非經歷、黑色大陸羈絆，與她更相近的可能是來自鄰國貝南的 Angélique Kidjo。

無論她的音樂揉合了哪些元素，與誰有關無關，首張同名專輯 "Asa"(2007 於法、2009 於美發行，點連結可試聽)十分精彩。音樂豐沛、悅耳外，幾首歌詞更發人省思、值得再三玩味。可能就因這幾首諷時醒世的歌，Asa 也被一些樂評、媒體歸類為『抗議歌手』；但這稱呼可就窄化、stereotype 了她那多變、liquid 的內涵與樂風。

這首 "Fire On The Mountain" 的確傳遞了不少訊息(歌詞於文末)。網路上有一些 Asa 影音片段，下面這段收音較好。

不僅詞曲演唱好，專輯的伴奏配樂也相當不俗；某些曲目雖因樂風而單薄了些，但許多樂器都是樂手真槍實彈的演奏。聽多了一台電腦、一套 Pro Tools 完全搞定的「假」音樂(電腦吉他、電腦鼓、電腦低音吉他、電腦低音大提琴...)，更覺認認真真的 Studio 器樂真韻之可貴。

如果 2008 年爵士女聲最大驚喜是 Esperanza Spalding，2009 就是更廣域的 Asa 了。喜歡 R&B、Soul、Reggae 甚至 Folk 風 Vocal，或純粹愛蒐集 Ethnic Music(聽聽另一首 "Eye Adaba")、World Music 者別錯過。

2009‧04(picture courtesy of Naive/Mercer Street Records)

Lyrics: 'Fire On The Mountain'

CHORUS
There is fire on the mountain
And nobody seems to be on the run
Oh there is fire on the mountain top
And no one is a-running

I wake up in the morning
Tell you what I see on my TV screen
I see the blood of an innocent child
And everybody's watching

Now am looking out my window
And what do I see
I see an army of a soldier man
marching across the street

Hey Mr soldier man
Tomorrow is the day you go to war
But you are fighting for another man's cause
And you don't even know him
(反戰意味此段在上面那現場演唱時未唱)

What did he say to make you so blind
To your conscience and reason
Could it be love for your country
Or for the gun you use in killing

REPEAT CHORUS

Hey Mr Lover man
Can I get a chance to talk to you
Cause you are fooling with a dead man's corpse
And you don't know what you do

So you say you have a lover
And you love her like no other
So you buy her a diamond
That someone has died on
Don't you think there's something wrong with this
(有關「血鑽石」這段在上面那現場演唱時也未唱)

Tell me who's responsible
For what we teach our children
Is it the internet
Or the stars on television
Why oh why
Why oh why oh

So little Lucy turns sixteen
And like the movie she's been seeing
She has a lover in her daddy
She can't tell nobody
Till she makes the evening news

REPEAT CHORUS

On day the river will over flow
And there'll be no where for us to go
And we will run, run
Wishing we had put out the fire

REPEAT CHORUS (till fade)