Sikelela

If you saw the West End stage musical Umoja: Spirit of Togetherness, you will have already heard Amabutho, the seven piece vocals-and-percussion Zulu group who provided the show's music. Among the theatregoers who witnessed the show was the Canadian producer and label owner Peter Cardinali, who was impressed enough to invite Amabutho to a studio in Toronto to record this album. He's opted for a highly traditional approach, the group's thrilling call-and-response vocals accompanied only by throbbing marimbas (xylophones) and congas. The results are stirring and uplifting and virtually unmediated by the studio experience: the troupe play and sing (with background ululations) much as you'd like to imagine they would in a village in Kwa-Zulu Natal. If the accompaniment is limited in its variety, the group make up for it by using four or five different lead vocalists and a series of clever stylistic changes in their songwriting – the title-track, for example, is presented in a prayer-like setting. ‘Tsotsi’ (Gangster) swings delightfully to an old-fashioned township kwela melody. And ‘Uyuclaima’ (Boasting) is a stomping, romping Zulu dance tune. Think Ladysmith Black Mambazo backed by just about the finest rhythmic marimbas you've ever heard, and you've got the general idea. There's a nicely presented DVD of an in-the-studio performance as well.