Raise Your Spirit Higher 3 Stars

Ladysmith Black Mambazo (Heads Up)

Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the South African a cappella ensemble that came to the attention of North Americans when Paul Simon recruited the group for his Graceland album in 1986, doesn’t change a whole lot from one album to the next.

And that’s just fine, because the group’s joyful mix of traditional Zulu and Christian gospel music – with its sweetness born not of naivete but of faith and goodwill – is as simultaneously soothing and uplifting now as it’s always been.

The one new element is a soft-edged hip hop number written and performed by the grandsons of Joseph Shabalala, the group’s founder.  A tribute to the boys’ grandmother, who was murdered two years ago, it reconciles anger and loss with love and hope.