Vusi Mahlasela - Guiding Star

(Wrasse Records/ WRASS 203)

Vusi Mahlasela’s CD ‘Guiding Star’ is cut out with essentially South African beats that comfortingly tell stories you’d normally find still breathing in the pages of history books.

Take ‘Song for Thandi’ for example, which tells the story of detained freedom fighter Thandi Modise who the apartheid government forces arrest and make dig the ground with her hands for weapons she knows nothing of. Or ‘Sower of Words’, a tribute to the late Black Consciousness poet and writer Ingoapele Madingoane, who wrote the poem ‘Africa my beginning, Africa my ending’. The song is punctuated with the strong voice of Dave Mathews, who helps drive home the story of the rough ride Madingoane endured. And on a more intimate level ‘River Jordan’ is a song Mahlasela wrote for his late mother, who collapsed in church and died the same day.

Mahlasela also throws in more danceable tracks such ‘Ntombi Mbala’, which rejuvenates memories of vibey down town Jo’burg or colourful parts of Kwa-Zulu Natal. And then, of course, you can’t ignore Dorothy Masuka’s reknowned ‘Pata Pata’ which – be warned – still has the potential to make you jive even when you don’t intend to.

In addition to Masuka, Mahlasela draws on the talents of many South African guests including Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Moses Ngwenya of the Soul Brothers. This CD is well compiled and ready to plug into.

Reviewer : Irene Madonko