Dead Above Ground

Tervalon's highly atmospheric story of an African-American family in crisis takes place in New Orleans in 1946. Helen, matriarch of the Duchamps family, tries desperately to rescue one of her daughters from the clutches of lothario Lucien Fauré, who means to settle a decades-old score between himself and Helen. The clash brings to the surface secrets about Helen's past that are best left buried. Myra Lucretia Taylor delivers an extraordinary performance. Her smooth shifts from French to Creole to English patois are sublime. So too is the way she wraps the listener in velvety tones that totally entrance. P.R. (c) AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine