When Somi was growing up, her mother told her that the rain, ever unpredictable,could be as much a blessing as a challenge. That notion has stayed with thecharismatic singer and songwriter all her life and now provides a metaphorical focusfor her third album, If The Rains Come First. (ObliqSound), a stunning collection of self-penned story-based songs, a meditation on opening ourselves up to life’s blessings andchallenges much in the way that we accept the rain and all that it brings.

As The Boston Globe recently put it, Somi’s new album “glistens with the sheen of analmost impossibly perfect cosmopolitanism." Singing in English and three East Africanlanguages, Somi’s vocal delivery is subtle yet the power she exerts is enormous. Herartistic evolution is indisputable.

Born in Illinois to immigrants from Rwanda and Uganda, the African and Jazz legaciesare always crucial to her sound. Often compared to the likes of Miriam Makeba, SarahVaughn, Cassandra Wilson, and Cesaria Evora, her new album also features thelegendary trumpeter Hugh Masekela, a longtime Somi fan and mentor.

JazzTimes magazine describes her live performance as “the earthy gutsiness of NinaSimone blended with the vocal beauty of Dianne Reeves,” Billboard calls it “all eleganceand awe…utterly captivating,” and Vogue simply calls her voice “superb.”

As her career has taken off, Somi’s talents have been called upon for collaborationsand live performances alongside John Legend, Cassandra Wilson, Mos Def and PaulSimon. Most recently, internationally renowned Israeli artist Idan Raichel featured Somion his latest platinum-selling album Within My Walls (Cumbancha), on the track“Maisha,” which Somi also co-wrote.

While Somi and her band continue to perform at venues in Europe, Africa, Asia, andthe Americas, the globetrotting chanteuse says, “At the end of the day, I still know who Iam and where home is before, during, and after the rain—it’s in the music.”