The Pure and the Golden

The entire world knows and loves South Africa's premier Zulu ensemble. Joseph Shabalala's group has such a vast repertoire, recorded over almost 40 years, that there's plenty to sustain multiple compilations without too much overlap and repetition. Compiler Iain Scott has taken several interesting decisions in his approach to this two-hour retrospective of glorious a capella singing. The first is that he has concentrated primarily on their Zulu-language material. That means some notable absentees, including the Paul Simon collaborations such as ‘Homeless’ and ‘Diamonds on the Soles of Their Shoes’. Yet they are so overfamiliar that their absence is not unwelcome, particularly as it makes room for some less familiar material from their early years. Outstanding among the pre-Simon recordings are Awu! Phathaphatha’ from 1973 and ‘Is'timela, recorded a year later. The close harmonies on these early recordings are as tight as anything they subsequently performed; but the singing is marked by an earthier rawness that is instantly appealing. How swiftly they learned the techniques of the studio is evident on 1977's ‘Bantu Radio’, ecorded as an advert for the South African Broadcasting Corporation, and on which the smoothness that later became their trademark is already emerging. The 20 well-chosen tracks on disc one continue the story chronologically, concluding with a brace from the 2007 album Ilembe. The decision to fill the second CD with the group's collaborations is less satisfying. It kicks off abominably: a full-band reggae version of ‘Knockin’ On Heaven's Door’ with Dolly Parton. Six tracks from the Women of Mambazo album is too many and there are a similar number recorded with the SABC Choir. However lovely the sound is, devoting two-thirds of the second disc to just two projects lends the package an unbalanced feel.