Queen of Sheba, a new collaboration album by Angélique Kidjo and Ibrahim Maalouf, tackles some serious subjects in telling the ancient story of the mysterious African monarch's visit to King Solomon. And their telling of it was spurred by a mutual drive for Benin-born singer-composer-activist Kidjo and Beirut-born trumpeter-composer Maalouf to trace the links between their African and the Middle Eastern heritages.
But watch videos from the handful of performances they did of this material over the last few years — at Carnegie Hall, at the Netherlands' North Sea Jazz festival, in the stately Basilique Saint Denis outside Paris — and one thing comes through clearly: They were having fun.