Listening to Miriam Makeba’s “Reflections” is a bit like ordering a sampler platter at a restaurant. You’ll like some; you won’t like all. For fans of Makeba, and there are many, it’s a must-have. Makeba, who now is well into her seventies, sings new arrangements of songs she made hits and songs that are new to her. She sings traditional South African music sung in Xhosa (her native tongue), French pop, bossa nova, disco, and jazz. The element that threads these disparate songs together is her marvelous voice – a husky vibrato that has been everywhere and back. Of course, “Mama Africa” has been nearly everywhere and back. Reflections is a family affair. Her grandson, Nelson Lumumba Lee, produced the album (along with South African musician Ringo Madlingozi) and contributes his whiskey-smooth baritone to “I’m in Love With Spring,” a schizophrenic duet that is part butter, part spice. She sings two of Masekela’s songs, “African Convention” and the lush jazz ballad “Where are You Going?” And her daughter Bongi Makeba, who died in childbirth, co-wrote “Quit It,” an anti-drug disco anthem. You can’t be in a bad mood when you listen to “Click Song,” which she made famous with the Manhattan Brothers; or the first track, “Iyaguduza,” an Afropop tune easily accessible to Western audiences. For newcomers to Makeba’s music or to songs with a distinctly African flavor, Reflections provides a perfect introduction.

-Robin Dodds