South Africa music reviews

It's certainly a beautiful CD, with gorgeous music. But... I grew up with the music of Miriam Makeba on her older LP's, and quite frankly, her voice during the 60's and 70's was so exceptionally beautiful -- I truly think hers was one of the 2 or 3 greatest voices I've heard, up there with Ella -- that it's just not the same. Don't let me dissuade you from buying this CD, it's very, very good, and anyone who likes, traditional S. African music will *really* like this CD. But if you want to hear the real Makeba, with a voice so beautiful it sends a chill down your spine, you have to go to earlier materials. I hope the record companies release her early material some day.

I�ve had a cassette of this album in my car for more than a decade, and I�m sure I�ve played it more than any of the dozens of other cassettes in the car. It�s one of the few I never get tired of hearing. Since the songs are all in Xhosa, I had no idea what Miriam Makeba was singing about, but there was something so warm and uplifting, so healing, about her voice, and the lilting rhythms of the songs, that meaning didn�t seem to matter. Only recently I glanced at the liner notes and realized that most of the songs are essentially prayers. They call on the spirits of ancestors for help or strength, or praise them for the help they�ve given. It�s transcendent, spiritual music � which I guess at some level I knew all along, even without understanding the words. That the sense of the songs is clear even if you don�t understand the language tells you a lot about the power of Miriam Makeba�s singing.

My six-year-old daughter also loves this album, and often asks me to play it. (She says her favorite singers are Raffi, Ella Fitzgerald and Miriam Makeba � an interesting trio.) I suspect Makeba�s warmth comes through to any listener, no matter what their age. This is some of the most moving music I�ve ever heard.

I find this album, and all the songs on it, infused with happiness, and the album makes me smile within seconds of hitting play. The songs are upbeat, with great beats, wonderful multi-part singing, and a kind of African - Carribean feel to them.

I highly recommend this CD, I think it's great.

This is lovely, joyous music. Never mind that almost none of the songs are sung in my native tongue, english. The listening experience is not in the least diminished. The harmonies are sweet and the 'vibe' is fantastic! As for technical issues, the recording is very good, but not so polished that the organic quality is lost. No pitch-correction needed here, thanks!

Something about this music grabs me deep down--I love it.

Here is some great upbeat, harmonius music. The instrumentation is Western (guitar, bass, drums and the occasional synthesizer) but the vocals are not of this hemisphere. The contrast of Malathini's groaning with the gorgeous harmonies of the Mahotella Queens is striking and adds to the fun set up by the driving rhythm and lilting guitar. This is essential AfroPop music. It is unfortunate that I Wanna Dance is the only song available for sampling. It is basically a disco dance tune that is easily the worst song on the disc and is not at all representative of the rest of the music. If you could just hear a bit of the first four songs I am confident you'd pop Thokozile into your shopping cart.

That title track rocks! In my view, its the best example of South African pop music, whose history drew so profoundly from the jazz and then rock and roll sounds that came out of America to seduce black Africa.

An interesting offering from LBM. As far as I can tell their first recording with intrumental accompaniment (four tracks) and this makes it very accessible (and no doubt an aberration to hypocritical western 'purists'!:-)). I bought this CD on the strength of 'Leaning on the Everlasting Arm' a slightly modified version of this well known Christian hymn. LBM team up with the Winans (of conteporary Black Gospel fame) on this track and the interplay between two different styles of African singing is either delightful or jarring depending on your viewpoint! As a white boy from Oz I found it entrancing. LBM's earthy singing contrasts beutifully with the polished Motown sound of the Winans and the programmed drum track carries the whole thing superbly. Other stand out tracks are 'Township Jive' which like 'Leaning' also has intrumental support and 'Love Your Neighbour' which avoids being preachy and showcases LBMs more traditional singing. If you've never heard LBM before (and your not familiar with the traditional singing that they are famous for) then I highly reccommend this as a chance to hear both their trad and more contemporary sound. In any case these guys make shimmering, beautiful music - you won't waste your money! Nevertheless, purists beware!

I absolutely love LBM and especially this CD. It is so cool. I listen to it all the time and it is one of my favorites. Of course, because I don't speak Zulu, my favorite songs are the ones in English, especially Love Your Neighbor, Leaning on the Everlasting Arm and Rejoice. I think LBM and Joseph Shabala RULE and their music is SOOOO cool!!...

i made the mistake of thinking that this would be african music, but every time i play i swear it i swear it's just another jazz festival gathering. i am absolutely certain that there are more South African jazz musicians with character than are represented here. i would say if you like jazz, then sure, but if you're looking for good African music, check out the rough guides to Senegal & Gambia, Cape Verde (sweet!! bluesy and jazzy), or Music of Africa.

I seldom write reviews for Amazon because I don't have a lot of time, but this CD is one of the best I've heard in the past several years. I've enjoyed every single track--for me it's definitely the best of the 30 Rough Guide collections I've heard to date. Fifteen years ago, listening to a program about "African music" on NPR I started chasing what I'd heard -- and now I know it was South African. Reminds me a bit of modern Brazilian jazz. My ears are reveling in all these sounds and beats. I want more!

Strictly speaking, this Cd isn't just S/A jazz but what is commonly known as "Township Jive, " the Jazz and R&B flavored music of South Africa's ghettoes. But whatever you call it, it's VERY good stuff and this Cd will please both initiates and longtime fans of the genre with its melodic and rhythmic selections. The selection with Miriam Makeba and her early group the Skylarks is particularly appealing. If you have this already, it's a good way to turn your friends to this wonderful genre of music. Show them what Paul Simon was talking about.

I am really amazed to find the music by this group on Amazon[.com]. Amazon[.com] is really doing a great job. I had the priviledge of watching the Bhundu Boys whilst I was studying at Oxford University in England. My good friend Forbes Elworthy from New Zealand invited me to watch this African band. I am a native of Zambia myself and hence Zimbabwe is our neighbour where this band hailed from. After watching the group perform I bought their audio cassette. Went back to Zambia and within no time it went missing. Alas I have continued singing their songs. One time while visiting Zimbabwe I tried to look for their music but could not find it. Once again thank you amazon[.com] for giving us this opportunity. My order will be placed shortly.

I just discovered these guys from some of my friends. I never listened to real african music before so I decided to see what all the fuss was about.

On the contrary, this is real good music. My favorite songs have to be Jit Jive, My Foolish Heart, and Chemezevana.

Pick it up if you see it...

this cd is great...even though hard to find..i discovered them by seeing the Jit Jive video on MTV2. other good songs are African Woman and My Foolish Heart. buy it if you are a fan of african music.

When I heard that LBM was doing an album with instrumental backing...I didn't quite know what to think. This fantastic group is world-renowned for the symphony they can create with their voices, so why go instrumental? I do, however, encourage musical exploration...so I figured I'd give it a try.

What a mistake this album was! Besides 4 or 5 songs (including "Yitho Umlilo Ovuthayo," "Sohlabelelu Hosana," & "Jesus Is My Leader") this album is total bore. Hearing this fantastically talented group do Bob Dylan, Curtis Mayfield, & Billy Joel covers backed by pedestrian instrumental arrangements is extremely disappointing. If you want to explore the magical experience of South African zulu singers, then get another one of their albums...try the Greatest Hits, or just about anything else but this one.

I love LBM, but this album is just a disappointment (especially after seeing them in concert!) Spend your money elsewhere!

Prior to purchasing this album, I had vague memories of the distictive harmonious blends of the group through Paul Simon's Graceland album. Finding myself on work assignment in South Africa and looking for music with a local flavor, I was quite fortunate to find this album in Johannesburg, and quickly ordered the CD through Amazon for the family back home to enjoy. My 19 year old son remembers the group from their appearances on Sesame Street.

This album is outstanding in every respect. The selections provide just the right mix of traditional U S gospel (Oh Happy Day, Take my Hand Precious Lord), and soothing African 'gospel' composed by the group's leader, Joseph Shambalala, including two with English lyrics (Jesus is my Leader, He Showed me His Hand) plus three selections of entirely African/Zulu lyrics. Other familiar works, not typically included on a gospel collection, are Bob Dylan's Knockin on Heavens Door, People Get Ready, I'll Take you There, Billy Joel's River of Dreams (In the Middle of the Night), and Sam Cooke's classic Chain Gang. Add in Shambalala's Beautiful Rain to the mix, and the selections show how the group's style can encompass a wide range of sounds. As an added treat, familiar American pop musicians provide guest vocals - most notably, Dolly Parton, Phoebe Snow, and Lou Rawls. The unique choral African rhythmic 'a capella' singing provides the group's Heavenly signature for the album. Throw in the narrations by Shambala in I'll Take You There, referencing the group's humble beginnings in their hometown of Ladysmith in KwaZulu-Natal province, and the very moving account of Shambala's 1993 visit to Chicago to visit Precious Lord's Thomas Dorsey on his death bed, and the results are superb.

I had the opportunity recently to include Ladysmith on a week-end trip to the Natal coast, and learned more about the group in a museum there. I added their most recent 'Wenyukela' to my collection and am currently enjoying the more traditional African selections of this album.

The group truly deserves their reputation as the most well-known African group in the Western world.

This is, of course, Ladysmith Black Mambazo's first album with instrumental backing, unless you count the harmonizing they did on _Graceland._ Which I don't, since it was never their song or album. Still, the effect is transforming -- it takes the responsibility of maintaining musical continuity from the basses, who are plentiful in number, and places it on the instruments, allowing the voices to focus exclusively on the melody. For sheer inventiveness while not straying from the origins, their rendition of "River of Dreams" simply can't be beat. My girlfriend thinks it's better than the original, and I really can't bring myself to disagree.

Awadagin Pratt is a free spirit. Not only does he sport luxuriant dreadlocks and sit on a tiny stool, but he also played piano incredibly well. Pratt can do whatever he wants around the margins, because he rendered an intensely dramatic interpretation of these immortal pieces, with a distinctly improvisational air in the rhythms.

Mr. Pratt is an exceptional performer with a talent for stylizing within the most heatedly virtuosic material. His willful manipulation of tempos and dynamics, his varied articulation, as well as astonishing brilliance and energy, made for a provocative, electrifying performance.

Acclaimed pianist Awadagin Pratt, known for his unorthodox style -- he sits on a bench very low to the floor. He also eschews the traditional tuxedo in favor of brightly colored shirts and gives the old masters something beyond the standard treatment. However, it's his splendid performance that really counts. His astonishing brilliance and beauty, the romance and lyricism, the incredible technique and prodigious talent, and his superb and imaginative repertoire transport listeners, levitating them into a spiritual dimension, where materials are immaterial.

This review is about the song on this Tree 63 CD titled "Blessed Be Your Name"...

Why are these people singing "You give and take away.. Blessed be your name.." ?

Is God really the one that gives and then takes away?

Why do people continue to quote Job, an Old Testament man, who didn't truly understand who and what was the source of his trials and pain? Didn't God later correct Job for his false accusations? So why is Job our role model? Why do we continue to quote something that is only said ONE time in the WHOLE Bible?

Does God really give and then take away? Is that really the God that Jesus Christ presented to the world when He walked this earth? Not at all.
In fact, Jesus stated that He came not to destroy men's lives, but to save them (Luke 9:56). Jesus also stated that the thief, Satan, is the one who comes to take away, to kill, and to destroy (John 10:10).
The book of James proclaims that God is the giver of every good and perfect gift and that God never changes (James 1:17).

So why is this false statement, "The Lord gives and the Lord takes away," made at almost every funeral and gravesite? Why is this false statement about God made during nearly every time of tragedy and loss?

God is NOT the one who gives and then takes away. He is simply not like that. It doesn't matter what Job or anyone else accuses God of, it matters what the Bible says about our Father. It matters how we are supposed to relate to our Father under this New Covenant. Would you sit back and allow your own children suffer at the hands of your enemy to supposedly "help them grow" spiritually? Would you sit back and let your child's body be destroyed by cancer and disease, so that you can somehow receive some type of twisted "glory" from it? Would you sit back and allow your own child's house be blown away by a hurricane for some "mysterious purpose" ? That's completely ridiculous.

For more information or for a free audio CD about this extremely important topic, please email me.
We also have a CD about Hurricane Katrina from a Biblical perspective. They are all absolutely free and postage paid.

CovenantBookstore at yahoo . com


In Christ Jesus,
Justin

This is an album full of solid, Scripturally based lyrics and rock music.

There are several good songs on this CD with two that are superb. 'King' is a catchy tune that is very well done. The version of 'Blessed Be Your Name' done here is fantastic. It has lots of guitar, lots of rocking, and lots of praise to the Creator of the Universe.

If these two songs were the only ones on the album, it would be well worth the price. As a bonus, it contains several other enjoyable songs.

If you like praise music with lots of passion, this CD would be a good addition to your collection.

I think Tree63, The Answer to the Question, is a wonderful CD. I originally purchased it for the song "Blessed Be Your Name," not even realizing that I would enjoy listening to all of the other songs. "I Stand For You," and "Over and Over Again," are two of my other favorites. I thank God for blessing these men with such wonderful musical talents. The songs on the CD lift me up each time I listen to them. Thank you God and thank you Tree63!!!!

1976's From South Africa to South Carolina shows Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson continuing to stir the pot musically. There is a heavier jazz influence this time around as Jackson's piano work plays a more prominent role. Whether it's Victor Brown adding his soaring vocals to "A Toast to the People" or Scott-Heron providing his moving baritone on the gentle "A Lovely Day", Jackson always provides the perfect accompaniment. This trend continues on the subdued "Beginnings (The First Minute of a New Day)" and "Fell Together", which both feature Jackson on flute. Although Scott-Heron has no spoken word performance, his political awareness remains intact on the R&B hit "Johannesburg" and the funky "South Carolina (Barnwell)" which attacks the social issues of apartheid and nuclear waste respectively. "Essex" is the most experimental track as it bounces from free form jazz ala John Coltrane to a slow R&B before returning to its original theme and then slowly fading out. The best track here is the hard funk of "Summer of `42", which features great vocal interplay from Scott-Heron and Brown as well as a memorable electric piano line similar to Stevie Wonder's work at the time. The live bonus tracks include a jazzier take on "South Carolina (Barnwell)" from the No Nukes concert featuring great sax work from Bilal Sunni Ali, a spirited performance of "Johannesburg", and a touching version of "Save the Children." The final bonus track, "Let Me See Your ID", complete with its old school rappers and production, has not aged well and sounds out of place. While not as enduring as The First Minute of a New Day or the live album It's Your World, From South Africa to South Carolina is another strong release from Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson.

Despite the '70s crowd-pleasing, anti-apartheid anthem, "Johannesburg", this album remains a bit of an obscurity in the discography of Gil Scott-Heron.

Gil hit a nerve with street-inspired poetry and powerful rhythms that presaged rap on tunes like "Whitey on the Moon", "Brother", "The Bottle", and of course, "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised," which has become not only widely sampled, but even -- undeservedly -- reduced to something of a cliche. "South Africa to South Carolina" displays Gil's and Brian Jackson's lyrical side with ideas and rhythms more subtle than "Johannesburg."

The strong lyricism is best illustrated by "Beginnings" and, especially, the disarming "A Lovely Day," which recalls, for me, the beautiful "Very Precious Time" from the great "Winter in America." Both of the tunes make me think of the "Doonesbury" line in which Mark, the hard-core ideologist, confesses, "Even revolutionaries like chocolate chip cookies." The revolutionary on this album shows his chocolate chip cookie side with "A Lovely Day," a song that this writer turned to often back in the day for solace during dark times.

A bit of a hodge-podge in styles, and in some ways much a product of its times, this album may not be of use for all, but I still consider it a strong piece of work from a very important American artist whose name and contributions to the current scene should be kept alive.

The mid 1970s was an extraordinary period for Gil Scott-Heron, peaking in my assessment with "From South Africa to South Carolina". Having established his reputation as politically aggressive and relevent on his Flying Dutchman recordings and cooled off on "Winter in America", Scott-Heron and musical partner Brian Jackson assembled "The Midnight Band" for "The First Minute of the New Day". The band stayed intact for "From South Africa to South Carolina", and the strength of familiarity shows.

Perhaps the most notable is the ability for the three vocalists-- Scott-Heron, Jackson and Victor Brown, to harmonize together. Two and three part harmonies rise and fall together, with Scott-Heron's baritone, Brown's high tenor, and Jackson somewhere in between blending into a fantastic mix. Below then, Jackson leads the band from the piano, joined by reedman Bilal Sunni Ali, bassist Danny Bowens, drummer Bob Adams and percussionists Charlie Saunders, Barnett Williams, and Adenola. On 'First Minute', it felt like Bownes was the dominant voice, head and shoulders the most unique and sticking out-- now the band works together in a stronger fashion and provides a superb framework, performing ably in jazz, blues, funk and rock forms.

Scott-Heron again tackles a number of topics in various atmospheres, from the then under-documented apartheid in South Africa (the superb funk of "Johannesburg") to toxic waste ("South Carolina"), from optimistic laments ("Beginnings", with an absolutely stunning three part harmony) to a touch of pure hopefulness (the simply fantastic "A Lovely Day").

The reissue augments the recording with a trio of live tracks-- fantastic readings of "South Carolina", "Johannesburg" and "Save the Children" (from "Pieces of a Man", several years earlier) and the anti-apartheid benefit piece "Let Me See Your I.D.", featuring Scott-Heron prominently amid a number of rappers and the trumpet of Miles Davis. The recording is also remastered and sounds fantastic.

This may be the best of Scott-Heron's catalog-- it all came together, the political vibe, the funky jazz aesthetic, they don't really get better than this. Hihgly recommended.