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CD Review
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Washington Post, CD Review >>
LADYSMITH BLACK MAMBAZO "Long Walk to Freedom" Heads Up Africa
By Geoffrey Himes
Friday, February 3, 2006; Page WE08
LADYSMITH BLACK MAMBAZO"Long Walk to Freedom"Heads Up Africa
"LONG WALK to Freedom" could easily have been subtitled "Ladysmith Black Mambazo's Greatest Hits." After all, it includes the South African group's best-known songs: "Homeless" and "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes" from Paul Simon's "Graceland"; three tunes from the group's Simon-produced album "Shaka Zulu"; "Nomathemba," its first African hit; and "Inkanyezi Nezazi," the song that became a pop hit after appearing in a Heinz commercial. But "Long Walk to Freedom" offers not the original hits but reworked versions, often pairing lead singer Joseph Shabalala with international guest stars.
Because Ladysmith Black Mambazo usually works in a cappella arrangements in which the eight male singers dominate the soundscape, it's nearly impossible for a guest vocalist to throw them off. But when a woman joins the blend, she can stretch the harmonies in new, rewarding ways. That's what happens when Sarah McLachlan joins "Homeless," when Emmylou Harris joins "Amazing Grace" and when the three women of Zap Mama join "Hello My Baby." (Melissa Etheridge and Natalie Merchant, by contrast, never quite blend with their hosts.)
Few songs have as complicated a history as "Mbube," which was written and recorded by South Africa's Solomon Linda in 1939, released as "Wimoweh" by the Weavers in 1952 and as "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" by the Tokens in 1961. Ladysmith Black Mambazo recorded the original Zulu version for the 1988 Eddie Murphy movie, "Coming to America," and again for their 1999 album, "In Harmony." Now the African and American versions of the song converge as Taj Mahal adds gruff, baritone shouts and electric guitar to Shabalala's smooth, choir-like tenor.
-- Geoffrey Himes
Appearing Thursday at the Music Center at Strathmore and Feb. 14 at the Maryland Hall of the Creative Arts. 02/03/06 >> go there
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