Vusi Mahlasela
In his home country of South Africa, singer/songwriter Vusi Mahlasela is fondly known as "The Voice." His fellow countrywoman, the writer Nadine Gordimer, once said about him: "Vusi Mahlasela sings as a bird does: in total response to being alive." Apart from his remarkable songwriting talent, Mahlasela is in fact blessed with one of the most remarkable voices in contemporary popular music. Vusi Mahlasela grew up listening to people singing in his grandmother's shebeen (an informal pub in South African townships) and taught himself while playing the guitar. As a teenager, he started writing his own songs with lyrics of social significance. In 1981, he joined the poetry group Ancestors of Africa, who were on the watch list of the Apartheid regime. His joining of the Congress of South African Writers in 1988 marks a new quality in his artistical maturing process. Besides starting a collaboration with South African dub poet Lesego Rampolokeng, he explored South African jazz and traditional music as well as the work of Chilean songwriter Victor Jara, who -- in his own opinion -- was his strongest influence. His first international performance in London (1990) made him more popular overseas than back home. Consequently, his debut album, When You Come Back (1992), a tribute to the political exiles of South Africa, catapulted him to instant fame in Europe and North America. Nowadays, it is considered a South African classic. Wisdom of Forgiveness, the 1994 successor, was an equally strong effort. The album title nicely summarized the political approach taken by the new democratic South African government: not revenge, but forgiveness was the strategy of the new era. Extensive touring was the reason that Mahlasela's next album, Silang Mabele, was only released at the end of 1997. The message of this album was clear: the time of singing praise songs is over, now let's make this new country work. The live set, Vusi Mahlasela & Louis Mhlanga Live at the Bassline (1999) captured a sizzling performance with one of his longterm collaborators and friends, guitarist Louis Mhlanga, stripped down to two guitars. In 2002, Vusi Mahlasela also appeared in Lee Hirsch's acclaimed documentary Amandla! A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony which examined the role of music in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. The compilation The Voice (2003) which Mahlasela himself handpicked for listeners in North America, marked his official record debut in the U.S.. To celebrate the twenty year anniversary of When You Come Back, the album that brought him onto a world stage in 1992, Vusi assembled his band and threw a concert at the Lyric Theatre in Johannesburg in 2012, performing several of his signature songs in front of an enthusiastic and very involved audience, and the whole affair was recorded and released as a live set, Sing to the People, early in 2013.
© Frank Eisenhuth /TiVo
Discografia
17 álbum(ns) • Ordenado por Mais vendidos
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Face To Face
Vusi Mahlasela, Norman Zulu, Jive Connection
Africa - Lançado por Strut em 27 de jan. de 2023
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wisdom Of Forgiveness
Africa - Lançado por RCA Victor em 23 de jun. de 1994
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Naledi Ya Tsela
Africa - Lançado por Colossal em 23 de nov. de 2006
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Miyela Africa
Africa - Lançado por Colossal em 10 de ago. de 2000
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Collection
Africa - Lançado por Sony Special Products em 18 de out. de 2004
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Silang Mabele
Africa - Lançado por Colossal em 4 de set. de 1997
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
When You Come Back
Africa - Lançado por RCA Victor em 9 de dez. de 1992
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Faceless People
Vusi Mahlasela, Norman Zulu, Jive Connection
Africa - Lançado por Strut em 23 de nov. de 2022
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Live at the Bassline
Jazz - Lançado por GIANT STEPS em 10 de jul. de 1999
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vusi Mahlasela, Greatest Hits
Jazz - Lançado por Sony Music Special Projects em 6 de jun. de 2014
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Umoya - Embracing the Human Spirit
Africa - Lançado por Gallo Record Company em 22 de set. de 2023
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Roots
Vusi Mahlasela, Norman Zulu, Jive Connection
Africa - Lançado por Strut em 11 de jan. de 2023
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sing to the People (Celebrating 20 Years of When You Come Back) (Live)
Jazz - Lançado por Sheer Sound em 8 de jan. de 2013
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
When You Come Back 2010 (ITV Version)
Africa - Lançado por Sony Music Special Projects em 4 de jun. de 2010
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Homeland, A Song for Refugees
Vusi Mahlasela, Wouter Kellerman, Sipho "Hotstix" Mabuse, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, JB Arthur
World - Lançado por Neill Solomon Music em 14 de jul. de 2023
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Say Africa
Pop - Lançado por Colossal em 8 de nov. de 2010
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
When You Come Back
Pop - Lançado por RCA Victor em 9 de dez. de 1992
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo