There is no resisting the Soweto Gospel Choir. They’ve learned equally from the best models of American gospel and soul, and from the rich pop and vocal traditions of South Africa to arrive at a supremely confident sound. In other parts of Africa, religious attitudes have sometimes resulted in varieties of “gospel” music that seemed bent on not making anyone want to dance, or even sway. But SGC never falls into that trap. They swing and groove with the best of them and leave one feeling, “This is what African gospel music should sound like!
African Spirit, the group’s third international release, offers their most adventurous and confident work to date, a succession of nineteen, concise, uniquely affecting tracks. There are soulful songs of uplift (“Seteng Sediba”, “Shosholoza”) soothing Zulu hymns (“Ke Na Le Modisa,” “Izwi Lahlab’Inhiziyo Yami”), a number of familiar refrains (“Sitting In Limbo,” “One Love,” “Rivers of Babylon,” “This Little Light of Mine,”). Backing ranges from nothing at all to a single hand drum to the full pump of a rootsy South African band, as on “Africa” with its shades of township drive and kwela pennywhistle pop. Another high point with the band is the traditional song “Sefapano,” a perfect marriage of heartfelt hymn and township shuffle.
SGC has understandably earned admirers far and wide, including some famous ones. Midway through this varied set, they back Bono and U2 in a live version of “One.” Equally comfortable in English and African tongues, SGC breathe new life into American gospel songs like “Hosana” and “Balm in Gilead.” The sheer quality of the singing would be enough to distinguish this group, even if they weren’t such inspired arrangers and appropriators. Many songs juxtapose a strong lead voice against some or all of the rest of the group. All the possibilities are there, the purr of a soft female lead (“I’ll Remember You”), the doo wop appeal of deep male voices (“Hlohonolofatsa”), plaintive, hymnal polyphony (“Modimo”), and out and out, soul diva kick (“Izwi Lahlab’Inhiziyo Yami”).
This group must rank among the best vocal ensembles in Africa, if not the world. No surprise, this release—with its mastery of genre and of the art of making connections with the wider popular culture—earned the Soweto Gospel Choir a Grammy Award for Best Traditional World Music Album.
"Shosholoza"
