Soweto String Quartet, Zebra Crossing - 40m 50s

Tracks & Durations

1. Mbayi Mbayi	2:40
2. Zebra Crossing	4:11
3. Zulu Lullaby	1:33
4. Kwela	3:41
5. The Paul Simon "Graceland" Collection	4:59
6. Bossa Baroque	5:36
7. Shut Up And Listen (Tul'u Lalele)	2:31
8. St. Agnes And The Burning Train (St Agnes Nokusha Kwe-Stimela)	2:45
9. Kadeni Kwazulu	3:40
10. Ntyilo Ntyilo	3:21
11. Where Were You Taking Me To? (Uno'Ntsonkisa Kae?)	2:03
12. Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrica (God Bless Africa)	2:34
13. Mbayi Mbayi (reprise)	1:09

Note: The information about this album is acquired from the publicly available resources and we are not responsible for their accuracy.

Review

This is neither the throbbing mbaqanga of the townships nor the ponderous classicism of Kronos's African explorations. The Soweto String Quartet offer a light, poppy sound that mixes their cello, viola, and violins with a South African rhythm section and some touches of winds and brass. They move seamlessly between the scratchy, throbbing sound of Soweto (especially in some of the violin solos that really do grasp the wonder of the township fiddle sound) and the FM radio accessibility of Paul Simon (who they pay tribute to in a medley from Graceland). They are good players but they seem to have been advised to hide behind a slick production approach instead of showcasing their own skills. While there are pieces for just the quartet, they tend to be lighter, romantic works that lack much innovation. Some kwela or mbaqanga pieces with just the strings, using the cello for bass and the viola for punch, would have given the album a better sense of place than the incessant, if pleasant enough, bass-drum-keyboard backing band. Fans of Graceland or recent Mahlathini recordings should take the ride, because Zebra Crossing offers a different view of this popular music form. For those hoping for a radical departure: this is not your train. --Louis Gibson

Other Versions

Albums are mined from the various public resources and can be actually the same but different in the tracks length only. We are keeping all versions now.

Zebra Crossing

Tracks: 13, Disk length: 40m 48s (-1m 58s)

Zebra Crossing

Tracks: 13, Disk length: 40m 39s (-1m 49s)

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