Soweto

This is an album of ‘township sounds from the golden era of mbaqanga’ –a reminder of the rousing dance music that emerged in Soweto and the townships of South Africa back in the 1960s and 70s, during the apartheid era. Like much South African music, mbaqanga was a fusion, a mixture of the country's great tradition for vocal harmony styles with the saxophone jive style that took over from the penny–whistle craze. Mbaqanga started off as a simple style – the term means ‘dumpling’ in Zulu. But this was a new urban music that swept the country: it used electric guitars and bass, and its cheerful rolling melodies and vocal work reflected the ska craze over in the Caribbean.

The greatest mbaqanga stars were Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens, who were celebrities not only in South Africa but also in the West. They were special both because of Simon ‘Mahlathini’ Nkabinde's dramatic stage act, which brought him the nickname of ‘the bull’, and because of his extraordinary, deep, groaning bass voice, which had worried his parents so much when he was growing up that they suspected witchcraft. He was complemented by the fine, tight harmony singing of the Queens (who also enjoyed a career on their own) and by a sturdy amplified guitar band. They are of course included here, along with an intriguing selection of lesser–known performers with their own individual take on the music. There's a driving, simple but tuneful track from the Lucky Strike Sisters, a gently sturdy instrumental from Reggie Msomi and his Hollywood Jazz Band, and a raw but rousing mixture of simple instrumental work and fine unaccompanied harmony singing from Amaqawe Omculu. A great set.