Say Africa

The man they simply call ‘The Voice’ in South Africa is little known to British audiences. But he has highly influential patrons in America, where he’s signed to ATO, the label run by the Grammy-winning, multi-million-selling rock star Dave Matthews. As a white South African émigré, Matthews has been keen to give something back to the country of his birth by supporting local musicians and it’s easy to hear why he chose to champion Mahlasela, whose clean, ringing guitar and smooth voice represents just the kind of post-Graceland brand of smooth global folk-rock the American world music market tends to favour. This reviewer once accused Mahlasela of trying to be South Africa’s answer to Sting and the easy-listening tendencies that provoked that remark are still present. But Say Africa – recorded in the US in 2010 but only now getting a belated release in the UK – possesses a little more muscle and bustle, mostly down to the influence of producer Taj Mahal. The American bluesman also plays on several of the grittiest tracks, contributing banjo and sharing lead vocals on ‘In Anyway’ and adding slide guitar to the bluesy ‘Conjecture Of The Hour.’ Equally impressive is the contribution of Angélique Kidjo, who duets on ‘Nakupenda Africa’, one of the few tracks that sounds 100% African. A little more of the spirit of those tracks might have elevated Say Africa from being a good album to being a great one.