Africa Calling

by Lorraine Klaasen

Overview

Lorraine Klaasen is certainly one of the best, if not deepest-rooted South African song stylists to come down the pike since the legendary Miriam Makeba. With the passing of Makeba, Klaasen carries the torch for both the aforementioned icon, and also for her famous mother, Thandie Klaasen. Helping is guitarist Mongezi Chris Ntaka (formerly with Lucky Dube) and bassist Bakithi Kumalo (with Dube and on Paul Simon's Graceland album) adding pure authenticity to the proceedings. While the music is in the Afro-pop realm, it touches on sotho funk, kwela, zulu, and xhosa aspects of village life while adding dance beats and feelings of triumph, with Klaasen singing in either African or English lyrics. There's the electricity of "Ziyaduma," with a pure beat reflecting the duality of representing thunder and the fact that it's all happening in the moment, while the modern modal popping rhythms infused in "Imbizo" bridge the gap between modern and traditional. Klaasen herself is effervescent, a driven vocalist who minces very few lyric lines with sentimentality, although she does offer occasional tender moments. She's driven to deliver the message for the most part, chanting with the group vocalists during the mixed and separate polyrhythms of "La Reine/The Queen," dancing in retro-disco fashion on "Spring in Every Season," or offering the celebratory wedding song "Jabulani" -- not Abdullah Ibrahim's composition of the same name. Africa Calling is a joy to hear from start to finish, a fully realized project, universally understandable, good for any party, ready to steal your heart and soul with a running start. ~ Michael G. Nastos

Product Details

Release Date:	04/13/2010
Label:	JUSTIN TIME RECORDS
UPC:	0068944023127

Tracks

1. Jabulani
2. Ziyaduma
3. La Reine
4. Spring in Every Season
5. Imbizo
6. Malayisha
7. Africa Calling
8. Ngiyabonga
9. Mina Nawe
10. Ntyilo Ntyilo
11. In My Dream

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Lorraine Klaasen   Primary Artist,Vocals
Mongezi Chris Ntaka   Guitar,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric)
Guy Belanger   Harmonica,Featured Artist
Danny Blanco   Featured Artist,Vocals (Background)
Masauko Chipembere   Vocals,Featured Artist
Samito Matsinhe   Organ,Piano,Keyboards,Synthesizer,Featured Artist
Liziwe Mahashe   Featured Artist,Vocals (Background)
Nadia Theobel   Featured Artist,Vocals (Background)
Bakithi Kumalo   Bass (Electric),Featured Artist
Daniel Bellegarde   Percussion,Featured Artist
Tony Albino   Drums,Featured Artist

Technical Credits

Mongezi Chris Ntaka   Arranger,Composer,Producer,Liner Notes
Francois Regis Page   Assistant Engineer
Bill Szawlowski   Engineer,Mastering
Laval Cote   Production Coordination
Alan Silinga   Composer
Masauko Chipembere   Composer
Jordan Ringo   Composer
Riccardo Cellere   Photography
Traditional   Composer
Lorraine Klaasen   Composer
Jim West   Executive Producer
Yves Jean   Composer
Jean-Pierre Leduc   A&R