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Review and Concert Pick
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New York Times, Review and Concert Pick >>
Apartheid in South Africa ended with elections in 1994, and music was one of the things that rallied the forces of democracy, even as it stayed gentle. This double bill features two of South Africa's household names. In South African music, native traditions merged with imported colonial elements to yield songs that can sound familiar to Western ears yet thoroughly South African. Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the unaccompanied male choir led by Joseph Shabalala, merges traditional Zulu harmonies with the contours of gospel hymns, and goes on to add some synchronized dance steps. In the group's dynamic "stalking style," Mr. Shabalala's companionable tenor voice hovers above resonant, bass-heavy harmonies, which build from a cavernous hush to fervent, driving peaks. Vusi Mahlasela, above, was one of the most important songwriters of the anti-apartheid movement, not just for his political courage but for his sterling voice and for three-chord tunes that make earnest sentiments bounce. On his American debut album, "The Voice" (ATO), he sings in six languages from South Africa, including English. His music encompasses protest without turning strident. "Should I now stop singing of love, now that my memory is surrounded by blood?," his "Red Song" song asks before rejecting the idea. In the way Mr. Mahlasela's voice leaps between registers as he plucks guitar syncopations, there's as much playfulness as righteousness. (Sunday night at 7, Town Hall, 123 West 43d Street, Manhattan, (212) 840-2824 or (212) 545-7536.; tickets are $25 to $45; $15 for students.)
-JON PARELES 04/08/05 >> go there
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