4. ON PRISM’S CD PLAYER: South African music that lifts the soul - Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s Raise Your Spirit Higher,
reviewed by Don Williamson for JazzReview.com

One of South Africa’s most highly acclaimed singing groups, Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s close harmonies, typically sung a cappella, have been heard around the world... So highly respected is the group that Nelson Mandela recommended that they perform for the Queen of England and the Royal Family; that they were afforded the rare opportunity to sing for the Pope; and that they entertained for not one, but two Nobel Peace Prize ceremonies. And yet the members of the group remain modest and humble. The group’s unique arrangements, usually sung in the members’ native language, may appear on the surface to be its signifying characteristic. However, Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s sound can’t really be imitated because of the spirituality - a combination of Christianity and Zulu tradition - infusing its music.

Due to that spiritual content, strengthened through 40 years of singing together, Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s message - and its mission - have remained unswerving: that of fervent hopes for peace and of converting hardship into a steadfast adherence to faith, assuredly a Christian message. That paradoxical strengthening of belief through sudden and sometimes shocking exposure to adversity became even more evident when Ladysmith Black Mambazo founder Joseph Shabalala’s wife of 30 years was murdered in 2002. Instead of seeking revenge... Shabalala espoused the need for peace, for a raising of the spirit, even more strenuously. Much of the music on Raise Your Spirit Higher [Wenyukela] was recorded after the murder. Indeed, one of the most touching tracks, although lacking in Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s rich harmonies as it is sung in unison, is “Tribute,” a little-more-than-a-minute-long address by Shabalala’s grandsons to his late wife, Nellie...

To read the rest of this review, go to
www.jazzreview.com/cdreview.cfm?ID=6262

To listen to sample tracks, go to www.rockpaperscissors.biz/index.cfm/fuseaction/current.press_release/project_id/122.cfm