The latest release in Heads Up Records Africa Series comes from the now legendary Zulu singing group Ladysmith Black Mambazo. The a cappella unit came into the international limelight through their collaboration with Paul Simon on his Graceland album in ’86. The next year Ladysmith’s first U.S. album won them a Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album. Since then they have been heard with many other artists, as well in as movie soundtracks, Broadway musicals and radio and TV ads.

This new album pairs Ladysmith Black Mambazo with the strings of the English Chamber Orchestra offering a diverse and quite unique musical journey. You’ll get a version of "Homeless," a classic from Graceland, mixed with other Ladysmith Mambazo classics written by Mambazo leader Joseph Shabalala and/or Isac Roux along with pieces by Bach, Schubert and Mozart. Then, to balance everything off, there is a version of "Amazing Grace." So what we have here is classicalized African music meets Africanized Classical done with "Amazing Grace."

LBM certainly did a lot to promote world music worldwide with their appearance on Graceland, and have since continued to amaze with their own albums released here in the U.S. Their performance in the 2003 Nelson Mandela concert benefit for HIV/AIDS in South Africa available on both DVD and CD - 46664 The Event- was outstanding. And so it this new CD. They obviously know no boundaries. Recommended for all you musically diverse people out there. Play it loud!

-Bill Wahl