About a month ago I visited my parents' attic, where they had placed their vinyl records for a final storage. They didn't do any good there so I went through the collection and saved a relatively large number of albums from the darkness and sadness in the closed boxes. That day's good deed. One of these albums were Makeba!, a record with the legendary South African artist.
Since my father during his record buying days tended to buy most classical music and jazz, I suspect my mother bought this album, unless it was a gift from someone. In my CD and mp3 collection I have lot of music from the African continent, the emphasis is on music from the west - Senegal and Mali are two countries a lot of music have found its way out from. In terms of folk music, West African music has always been a favorite genre of mine, even if some other albums from this continent also exist in the (digital) record shelf. It felt great to expand this section of the collection, especially in form of a vinyl album, as it's very empty in terms of folk music, regardless of geographic area, among my vinyls.
Miriam Makeba (aka Mama Africa) was born in 1932 in South Africa but wasn't allowed to continue living there after being involved in anti-apartheid activities. Her passport and South African citizenship was revoked in 1963, instead Belgium, Ghana and Guinea arranges international passports for her.
In the '60s, she lived a lot in the U.S. where she recorded a lot of records. 1968 she married Stokely Carmichael, who was active in the Black Panthers. This was very controversial in the U.S. and as a consequence, her record deal and tours were cancelled. The couple therefore moved to Guinea where Miriam lived for 15 years before moving on to Brussels. Apparently she had nine passports during her life and become an honorary citizen in ten countries. She described herself as a world citizen. Miriam has recorded music with a lot of different artists including Harry Belafonte and Paul Simon, and in 2002 she received the Polar Music Prize from the hands of the Swedish king. She died in Italy 2008.
So, what about the music on Makeba!? Well, there are some quite beautiful gems hidden on the album. Generally, it's catchy, energy filled and some songs have both beautiful melodies and harmonies. Then there are other songs that tend to be more bland. I don't listen a lot to Miriam Makeba, or South African music in general, and I can have a tendency to think that the songs sound a bit alike. Through out the album it's the same instruments used, kind of the same rhythms, the same sound, and the melodies and their structure are similar. But often you feel this way about music you don't really know. I usually say this about opera and countless people have said the same thing to me about electronic dance music as acid and trance (as it was called in the 90s, anyway) despite each song's clear uniqueness!
Miriam sings in a language I don't understand, therefore a large and important part of the music is lost to me. The Bantu language is mentioned in the text on the cover, so possibly this is the language she sings in. I understand from the description (in English) on the back cover that the texts are important, and kindly enough some of them are explained. There are songs about how to awaken the warrior in men, about the farmer and his crops, or saying goodbye to your home. Given the situation of the black population in South Africa in 1968, and by all means in the U.S., there are surely a lot of political symbolism in the lyrics that I don't get. The text on the back cover describes the album as "subtle and deep" in terms of the messages being communicated. I will limit myself to have an understanding that the content is important, but more than that I can't do anything but focus on the melodies, which I usually prefer to do anyway. This applies, for that matter, to all folk music I listen to where people sing in their native language. Worst case scenario is that I happily dance and jump around to a song on the subject of a hundred children's gruesome deaths.
This kind of album is a typical album I listen to when I clean up the house. The activity is so boring that I need get motivation and energy from something else, and at the same time not always being present in the room where the music is played and therefore sometimes only hearing the basic rhythm of the song. Maybe this wasn't what Miriam had in mind when she recorded this (from what I understand) rather politically aware album, I don't know, but there's not much to do about it. I still think Miriam would be happy knowing that a Swedish guy, in a little town far up north, finds some joy in her creation, even if her messages are not always picked up.
Overall, it's an OK album, although I would prefer a little more variety. My favorite track is Singa Madoda, from what I understand a traditional song which is normally sung by men.
Last but not least I must mention the cover, I think it's fantastic. It would be perfect as a piece of art on my living room wall.
Tracklist
Side A
1. Umoya 3:05
2. Uyadela 2:25
3. Asilimanga 1:53
4. Umquokozo 3:20
5. U-Mngoma 2:30
6. Emavungwini (Down In The Dumps) 2:09
Side B
1. Iphi Ndilela 3:40
2. Singa Madoda 2:45
3. Magwala Ndini 2:35
4. Sibongile 2:20
5. Hamba Naye 2:31
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