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Cd Review
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Offbeat Magazine, Cd Review >>
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Raise Your Spirit Higher (Heads Up)
I was a big fan of Ladysmith Black Mambazo in the mid '80s when their soulful a cappella African gospel music served as a much needed tonic to the crap heard on the radio as well as the crap coming out of Ronald Regan's mouth. Then, Paul Simon "discovered" them and used them to prop up his flaccid Muzak on Graceland. This, of course, brought Ladysmith Black Mambazo a degree of world-wide fame, for which they thanked Paul Simon by name in one of their songs.
Anyway, here we are nearly two decades later, needing not just the tonic but, the gin too! George W. Bush is ruing our world, and then this little slice of heaven finds its way to me. Everything that made this ten-piece vocal ensemble so special then came rushing back in big, bright saturated color. The first thing that always gets you about Ladysmith Black Mambazo is the way their voice surrounded you like a warm, loving hug. Their music permeates the soul and truly Raise Your Spirit Higher. Most of the original songs here are performed in Zulu, with lyrics voicing spiritual and socio-economic concerns. "Selingelethu Sonke" announces that "Africa is back in the hands of those it belongs to. It now belongs to all those who live here. We are now free and would like to invite you all to build, invest, and buy in Africa." Surprisingly, the coolest song here in actually sung in English "Music Knows no Boundaries" is one of the most beautiful sentiments ever recorded.
--Michael Dominici
01/01/04
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