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Xhosa Zulu English

Genre:

Tradisjonell folkemusikk Jazz

Instrument:

Female vocals

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Complete discography
Article/Interview May 2000

Biography

Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, Miriam Makeba has a long and dramatic career behind her, both as a singer and human rights campaigner. She was the first vocalist to put African music onto the international map in the 1960s.
She began to sing professionally as far back as 1950 with the Cuban Brothers, and became known across the land with the jazz group Manhattan Brothers, who toured South Africa, the former Rhodesia and Congo up until 1957. She went on to join the female vocal group, Skylarks, and sang on their disk. In 1959 Miriam Makeba took on the female lead in the musical "King Kong", about a boxer who kills his sweetheart and later dies in prison. The musical, publicised as a "jazz opera", was a big success in South Africa. To avoid the racist apartheid laws that divided the public, the musical was often performed in universities. That year an American film director, Lionel Togosin, made a documentary film from South Africa on which Miriam Makeba collaborated, and wanted her to present the film at the Venice Festival. Makeba accepted the job and got into hot water with the South African authorities that railed against the negative attention they received through the presentation of the film. While in Italy, Miriam Makeba decided not to return to South Africa where she got little or nothing in terms of payment for her performances. This resulted in the South African government revoking her passport and denying her the possibility of ever returning to her homeland. Miriam took up refuge in London after the festival and met Harry Belafonte, who helped her to emigrate to the USA. There she built up her career again. She was the first black musician to leave South Africa on account of apartheid, and over the years many others would follow her example.
In America Miriam Makeba had several hits on the 1960s, among them "Pata Pata", "The Clique Song", and the Tanzanian "Malaika", remaining an active opponent of the apartheid regime in her own country. Also, in the USA there was a civil rights movement growing in the 1960s. Miriam Makeba was for some years married to trumpet player and colleague Hugh Masekela, but split from him and in 1968 wed a leader of the black power movement, Stokely Carmichael. This was too much for some of her conservative, white audiences in the USA and she was in trouble with the American authorities. She found support in Nina Simone and others, yet went into exile in Guinea, Africa. She managed to find work outside the USA, and toured Europe, South America and Africa in the 1970s and 1980s. During those years she often appeared at jazz festivals such as the Montreux and Berlin. In 1987 she participated in Paul Simon's Graceland project, defending it even though it officially went against the cultural boycott of South Africa.
Miriam Makeba is African music's first and foremost world star. She is a pioneer who played her early songs and blended different styles long before anyone even began to talk about "world music". Her disk production is spread across many companies all over the world - so far and wide that it's difficult to get a panoramic view of it. But no collection of African music should be without one or more of Miriam Makeba's recordings.

Relevant artists:
Abdullah Ibrahim
Manhattan Brothers

THE BEST OF MIRIAM MAKEBA & THE SKYLARKS  
Camden/BMG/1998

A classic collection of songs from Miriam Makeba's early career in South Africa. This material was recorded in 1957-59 in the Gallo studios of Johannesburg, with one Alan Boyle in control, and the technical quality is excellent. The Skylarks at the time was made up of Miriam Makeba, Abigail Kubeka, "Mummy Girl" Mketele, Mary Rabotapo and Nomunde Sihawu. Four of them were also composers of their songs and they were backed by various studio musicians on bass, drums and guitar. Sometimes these were mixed with trumpet and clarinet, not forgetting Spokes Mashiyane on flute (penny whistle). This is timeless music. The Skylarks sing joyfully, the style is a mixture of traditional songs and western jazz elements and when you hear the group, you understand that the South African apartheid authorities committed a crime a few years later, by closing Miriam Makeba off from her own culture. This album is a "must" in decent collections of African music; in any collection, actually.

PATA PATA
Disques Esperanza/1983

SANGOMA  
Warner Brothers/1988

This is Miriam Makeba's comeback album from the USA, and consists of a collection of xhosa songs that Makeba learned as a child. The album was made in the USA with Russ Titelman as producer. Everything herein in professionally done. Miriam Makeba sings solo and in choir with herself, plus a group made up of Brenda Fassie, Linda Tshabalala and Hugh Masekela, the latter also contributing on percussion. All the songs are traditional xhosa songs, sung a capella, with careful overlay of percussion. Miriam Makeba and the group sing engagingly and shine. While this disk doesn't earn top marks, it's only because 19 songs, led out one after the other, in this fashion become too boring. It doesn't matter that they are performed well when the monotony creeps in after only 3 or 4 songs. If they had taken a chance and added some more instruments this would have been tremendous.

LE MONDE DE MIRIAM MAKEBA  
Disques Esperance/Sonodisc 1989

There is scant information on the cover of this CD - nothing but the song titles, to be precise. Judging by the material it's a compendium album with songs such as "Kilimanjaro" and "Ngoma Kurila", the latter from "Pata Pata". No matter, this is singer Makeba at the zenith of her career and the whole album speaks of it, from the Mbube-inspired "Zenizenabo" to jazz-inspired "Thanay". Most of these are xhosa and the backing is comprised of acoustic guitar and bass, percussion and trumpet. Miriam Makeba sings with precision and empathy. As with all artists, you feel that you understand what it's all about, even though the words are alien. The three last songs are in English, by the way. Simple and effective - it gets a minus for the playing time of only 30 minutes.

AFRICA
Novus/1991

A compendium album with several of her folk-inspired recordings from the 1960s.

SING ME A SONG  
Sonodisc/1993

A disappointingly weak and uninspired album, recorded in France. Song material comprised of 16 funky songs written by members of her band, Chikapi Phiri, Victor Masondo and Nelson Lee. It is difficult to see the background against which this was recorded - it sounds more or less accidental jamming in the studio. The same could be said of the production. The professional Miriam Makeba shows herself once in a while, of course, but too infrequently to save the project. Steer clear.

HOMELAND  
Putomayo/2000

Miriam Makeba's first offering after her homecoming to the new South Africa. "Mama Africa" wishes, naturally enough, to celebrate the land from which
she was so long exiled. The album is a mix of English language and traditional, African songs in xhosa, where the latter comes out better. "Unhome" for example, (misprint for "Umhome") is about a young bride who moves into her new home with her husband and his cousin. The husband is in the meantime soon interested in the cousin and dismisses his wife. It's sung out of anger and shame. This gripping song is arranged as a jazz song, and is decidedly the CD's best track. Here Miriam Makeba reaches up to the old heights, she sings with empathy and flexibility. And perhaps this song is a far more precise picture of the situation in the new South Africa than several other tracks on "Homeland". More difficult are the English language songs. Several of them are meant to extol South Africa, with titles such as "Africa Is Where My Heart Lies" and "'Cause We Live For Love". Producer Cedric Samson, who arranged almost all the music and is quite funky, has also written the lyrics. He should have kept to the task of producing; the lyrics are bombastic and unfortunately pull the entire project down. Miriam Makeba can continue to do great things - I don't understand why she had to let these three pompous songs slip through her net. This could have been a much better disk than it is.

MAMA AFRICA
Manteca/2001

Tracks:
1 Tula Ndivile
2 Laku Tshoni 'Ilanga
3 Ntyilo Ntyilo
4 Holili
5 Orlando
6 Intandane
7 Live Humble
8 Sindiza Ngecadillacs
9 Phansi Kwalomhlaba
10 Hush
11 Sophiatown Is Gone
12 Miriam And Spoke's Phata Phata
13 Umqokozo
14 Pata Pata
15 Kilimanjaro
16 Thanayi (=Nomalungelo)
17 Can't Cross Over
18 Carnival
19 Chicken (Kikirikiki)(=Sekusile)
20 African Convention
21 I Shall Sing
22 Malaika
23 Jolinkomo
24 West Wind
25 Click Song (=Qongqothwane)

THE GUINEA YEARS  
Sterns Africa/2001

We have just digested good news from the treasure chambers of the digital revolution with Orchestra Baobab's re-release of ”Pirates Choice” and now another classic appears: After years of digging in the archives Syllart Productions, in cooperation with Stern’s Africa have found and issued Miriam Makeba's recordings from her time in Guinea in the 1970-ties. The material has existed on vinyl in West Africa earlier, but these songs will be new to most people. Just to read Ken Braun's introduktion to the CD is quite tempting. The 16 tracks are released on Stern’s African Classics label, which is higly deserved. We meet an unsually fresh Miriam Makeba on these recordings, from her studio and live appearances 25 years back. More than anything else, ”The Guinea Years” confirms that Miriam Makeba is an artist ahead of her times. Makeba started her globalized crossover before most artists. On this CD she sings in 9 languages and not one of her many crossings of cultural borders sounds artificial. 'Cause Africa is always in focus of Miriam Makeba's soul. Here are for example 2 songs in Arabic, one of them, ”Africa”, with a big string orchestra. But it works. de most stunning songs are still the 4 last ones on the disk, recorded live in Palais du Peuple in Conakry. All of these songs are West African homage songs from the Maninka tradition, but Makeba sings them just like any jalismo! (Griotte)
The standard of the songs, backing group and recording is very good. In the backing group one finds among others Sekou ”Diamond Fingers” Diabate. The sound is supringsly fine, however with more echo on the recording than we would have today. ”The Guinea Years” sounds a bit like older recordings with for exsample Billie Holiday.
But anyway; this is historical!

DEFINITE COLLECTION
Wrasse Records/2002

Tracks:
Back Of The Moon 2:12
2 Kilimanjaro 2:48
3 Quickly In Love 2:38
4 Pata Pata 3:53
5 Click Song (=Qongqothwane) 2:09
6 Nomalungelo 2:15
7 Live Humble 2:24
8 Kutheni Sithandwa 2:35
9 Umbhaqanga 2:36
10 Table Mountain 2:22
11 Orlando 2:45
12 Sophiatown Is Gone 2:33
13 Hush 2:40
14 Uile Ngoan'a Batho 2:17
15 Laku Tshoni 'Ilanga 2:46
16 Tula Ndivile 3:09
17 Baxabene Oxgam 2:12
18 Don't Break My Heart 4:35
19 Thulasizwe/I Shall Be Released 3:46
20 African Sunset 5:49
21 Welela 3:18
22 Ha Po Zamani 2:57
23 Congo (Charlie?) 2:22
24 Saduva 4:43

BEST OF THE EARLY YEARS
Wrasse Records/2002

REFLECTIONS
Gallo/2003

LIVE AT BERNS SALONGER
Gallo/2003

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