Thandiswa - Zabalaza [Limited Edition] (2004/2005)

Thandiswa Mazwai is an indelible part of the South African cultural landscape. Eight years after her beginnings with the award-winning Bongo Maffin group, she releases her first solo project - the album Zabalaza, a work which transcends borders & musical genres. Including tastes of traditional Xhose rhythms, upbeat Mbaqanga, a touch of reggae, thumping kwaito and quasi-gospel sounds, the record is a truly unique and uplifting aural experience. Mixing the urban with the rural, the traditional with the modern, the music of Thandiswa has been wowing audiences during her recent tours of Africa, France, UK, Spain and India. An hugely talented performer and musical ambassador for her nation, Zabalaza is a magnificent musical journey. La Escondida. 2006.

While Bongo Maffin's sound was a catchy mix of reggae, hip-hop, Afro-pop, urban grooves, and South African kwaito, band singer Thandiswa Mazwai is able to put her own stamp on a similar mix of ideas. Mazwai has been called the Mariam Makeba of her generation; she has a voice that's in a class with Zap Mama's Marie Daulne or the Les Nubians sisters. On Zabalaza she not only carves out a strong identity as a South African solo artist, she also proves that she's a talent of stunning versatility -- at times she's a dance-floor diva ("Kwanele" and the knockout "Ndizakulibala (I Will Forget You)," yet she can also play a jazz crooner ("Ntyilo Ntyilo") or a straight up gospel singer testifying for the whole parish to hear ("Revelation"). The album's title means "rebellion," and while she really isn't bent on burning her bridges here,­ the overlying aesthetic is definitely inclusion over exclusion. A formidable and defiant strength is exuded on each track. --Tad Hendrickson