In the short time since their first CD release, Soweto Gospel Choir has become one of the most celebrated world music groups performing today. Their releases have hit the Top Ten of the Billboard World Music Charts and their coast-to-coast tours have electrified audiences across the USA as well as around the world. AFRICAN SPIRIT, the choir’s third CD, is their most accessible project yet with an irresistible mix of their versions of internationally-known inspirational songs and distinctive South African gospel, including some of the songs that have received the greatest response from their audiences. lWorld renowned superstar Bono of U2 is a special guest vocalist on the choir’s scintillating version of Bob Marley’s One Love. Other highlights of the album are the choir’s powerful versions of such hits as Many Rivers To Cross, Bob Dylan’s Forever Young, Jimmy Cliff’s Sitting In Limbo and Nina Simone’s Balm Of Gilead. Also available: VOICES FROM HEAVEN (SHANCD66036), BLESSED (SHANCD66038).
For their third album African Spirit (the previous release, Blessed, won a 2007 Grammy for Best Traditional World Music Album), the now-world-famous ensemble of brave, passionate survivors, many of whom are living with HIV and AIDS, has crafted another heartbreakingly beautiful and inspiring program. They raise their voices in praise and hope, at peace with what cannot be changed but not remotely resigned about how to deal with it. The set list concentrates predominantly on South African spirituals but also includes pieces composed by Bono/U2 (“One”), Bob Dylan (“Forever Young”), and reggae icons Jimmy Cliff (“Sitting in Limbo”), and Bob Marley (“One Love”). There is even a rendition of “The World in Union”, official anthem of 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa, which is in turn based upon the “Jupiter” movement of Gustav Holst’s The Planets. Some listeners may cavil at the crossover tracks, and Bono, heard live with the choir, certainly isn’t shy about claiming his share of the spotlight. But building exclusionary fences around music has, thankfully, always been a colossal waste of time. Of whatever origin, each track is a miracle of fellowship, professed belief, and positive striving, interpreted by soloists and choristers of soul-deep, indestructible genius.–Christina Roden
African Spirit has been Nominated for the 2008 Grammy Awards as Best Traditional World Music Album.