Vusi Mahlasela is perhaps the most nuanced and savvy of a burgeoning crop of African singer-songwriters. This wide-ranging, largely acoustic, ensemble album has more in common with the writerly work of Johnny Clegg, or a younger Paul Simon, than with any African roots band. He is as apt to sing in English as in Zulu or Xhosa, and when he does, he makes sure his message hits home. Mind you, there are roots here, echoes of kwela penny whistle music in the racing “Moleko,” the jangle of Zulu maskanda guitar and pump of classic township mbaqanga in the driving, ebullient “Ntombi Mbali,” and echoes of melodious, swinging, old-school South African jazz in “Thuli Mama.” That song has even older echoes of American doo-wop, and yet for all that baggage, it feels fresh and original, the falsetto lead and scat singing pure Vusi.
More characteristic of this 16-song set, however, are emotionally trenchant ballads like “Song for Thandi,” which recounts the shattering story of a pregnant woman, jailed and on the verge of suicide, saved by the kick of her baby and its reminder of life’s precious gift. Vusi is a brooding story teller, unafraid of darkness. Songs like “Chamber of Justice,” and “Sower of Words” are heavy with message, at times veering into recitation, a la Mzwakhe Mbuli, in the place of singing. What saves Vusi from sinking under the weight of his fearless embrace of the dark is his brilliantly varied musical vocabulary—spanning rock, soul, jazz, reggae and rap in addition to local South African genres—and perhaps most of all, his redeemingly light heart. Vusi can take us to deep, awful places, but he always lifts us out again.
For this reviewer, he is at his best when he lifts, as in the gospel-tinged reveling of “Mighty River,” and the shuffling, quasi-Second-Line melodiousness of “Tonti.” These two songs have something that most here do not, a catchy hook that stays with you. Vusi can come through with that tried and true hook when he needs to, but bravely, he rarely does. His rock ‘n’ roll take on the Dorothy Masuka classic “Pata Pata” is a delightful after thought, a victory lap for an artist who has lifted the art of the African troubadour to a very high level indeed.
Contributed by: Banning Eyre for www.afropop.org
"Ntombi Mbali"
