In Lisbon, while working on Madame X, Madonna formed a bond with Dino d’Santiago, a Portuguese singer of Cape Verdean descent. He began to introduce her to other musicians, including the all-female Orquestra Batukadeiras, who are featured on the song “Batuka.”
Madonna says, “We went to a tiny club in the middle of nowhere and a circle of women were sitting in chairs playing leather drums. The music started and they all took turns singing solos in Creole and dancing. It was so inspiring that I asked if possible, to collaborate with them. They agreed and we ended up in the studio recording ‘Batuka,’ this call-and-response song, live. It was a religious experience, just a total celebration of life.”
Madonna is getting ready to bring Madame X to life by embarking on a series of rare and intimate concert performances to take place exclusively in theaters, giving fans an opportunity to see her perform in an environment like they never have before. The Madame X Tour will kick off September 12th at the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House in New York and will feature multiple nights of shows in each city including performances at the Chicago Theatre, The Wiltern in Los Angeles, the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, the Boch Center Wang Theatre in Boston, The Met Philadelphia and at the Fillmore Miami Beach at the Jackie Gleason Theatre. The Madame X Tour will continue in early 2020 with performances at the Coliseum in Lisbon, the Palladium in London and at the Grand Rex in Paris. Tickets and further information is available at https://www.madonna.com/tour.
Madame X comes in a standard and deluxe version of the album and exclusive album bundles with limited edition merchandise are now available direct from Madonna.com.
More at Vents magazine
