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CD Review
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The Shepherd Express, CD Review >>
On the single-disc anthology Long Walk to Freedom, South Africa’s most-recognized a cappella group celebrates four decades of spreading a message of peace, love and harmony in both English and Zulu languages.
Rather than simply re-release or re-record songs dating back to 1973’s “Nomathemba,” group founder and lead singer Joseph Shabalala recruited some of the most beautiful voices in contemporary American music, including Natalie Merchant and Taj Mahal. The eight members of the collective that Nelson Mandela calls “my group” laid down their exotic blend of bass, alto and tenor harmonies separate from many of the other artists who appear here, but the vocal fusing is seamless nonetheless.
Long Walk to Freedom’s highlight is “Homeless,” the group’s breakout performance on Graceland co-written by Shabalala and Paul Simon and presented here with the smoky vocals of Sarah McLachlan. Elsewhere, Melissa Etheridge adds kick to “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes,” and Emmylou Harris contributes to a transcendent version of “Amazing Grace/Nearer My God to Thee.” Through it all, the members of Ladysmith Black Mambazo prove why they have become the friendly—and free—voice of mainstream world music.
—Michael Popke 04/06/06 >> go there
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