(Hugh Masekela, Flugelhorn & trumpet; Thema Mkhize, keyboards & vocals; Lwrence Matshiza, guitar & vocals; Bakithi Kumalo, bass & vocals; Remi Kabaka, percussion & vocals; Mgenekhaya Mahlanghu, sax/flute/vocals/percussion; Damon Duewhite, drums; Los Ballederos Hornas Africanos de Townsheep, B/G vocals)
This was a live show by Masekela and his band recorded at Washington D.C.’s Blues Alley back in l993, and first released on standard CD in 2004. The high quality original mix plus Analogue Productions’ superb mastering has resulted in a terrific , very transparent sonic with great impact.
This was the first time Masekela was playing with an all-African band in about 30 years. Each of the dozen tracks has detailed notes by Masekela. Five of them are by Masekela and the rest primarily songs from various African cultures. The languages are Zulu, Sotho, Shangaan, and Pidgin English. The first track is a song by Miriam Makeba which translates as The Healers, and was inspired by her mother who was a native healer. The song Mandela (Bring Him Back Home) is self-explanatory. But it’s not all vocals – there’s some great trumpet and Flugelhorn solos from Masekela as well as his reed man. The most familiar tune here will probably be his big pop hit Grazin’ in the Grass. The gorgeous Love Bird is an instrumental and the most requested song in South Africa. The last of the tracks is a ten-minute Masekela original, Stimela (The Coal Train). It begins with a moving narration about the terrible feelings the miners working near Johannesburg had when they heard the whistle of the coal train which had brought them from their various settlements to a miserable and dangerous life underground in the mines.
TrackList:
1. Abangoma (The Healers)
2. Uptownship
3. Mandela (Bring Him Back Home!)
4. Grazin’ In The Grass
5. Lady
6. Until When
7. Languta
8. Nomali
9. Marketplace
10. Ntyilo Ntyilo (The Love Bird)
11. Ha Le Se (The Dowry Song)
12. Stimela (The Coal Train)
– John Henry
