Johnny Clegg Best of Live - Technically, this is the best recording of Johnny Clegg s music that is available. This is a live recording at the Nelson Mandella Theater and is beautifully engineered. In addition, Johnny s voice has taken on a confidently mature sound that is not heard on many of his other recordings.Johnny Clegg s music is an amazing amalgam of different musical styles combiing Zulu singing, rock, reggae, and jazz. It is shocking that he is so little known in the USA and his music is never played on popular radio. He is an international star as witnessed by the huge crowd at a concert in Paris, which is featured on his Live DVD.
excellent one stop shopping - This is the best single collection I ve found of the songs spanning Johnny Clegg s long career. It s affordable if bought used (i.e., not at Amazon, sorry guys). For Clegg fanatics, it s worth it to add another version of these songs to your collection - all of them energetic and well-played. For newcomers, it s worth it to get an easy introduction to why you might want to become a fanatic. Having been converted, though, it s worth tracking down the original albums. None of these live versions do any sort of disservice to the original song, but very few are actually better (in my view) - Dela, for example, loses a good deal of its original subtlety in this live setting, at least. (That said, it settles in beautifully between Tatazela and December African Rain.) Also, the mix between songs is a little abrupt - like the mix tapes you made in college, the applause just cuts off, then starts again. But buy this album - then buy the rest.
Fabulous live CD - This CD contains performances and arrangements by the band members who comprise the Johnny Clegg Band that just finished touring in the US in Spring and Summer 2004. With two veterans of the Savuka days (Andy Innes and Mandisa Dlanga) and the new talent Johnny has recruited for this band, the musicianship is superb, the arrangements are new and lively and in a few cases even better than the originals. The liner notes explain that this is a live recording of performances made at the Nelson Theatre in Johannesburg called A South African Story. Tens (hundreds?) of thousands of South Africans have attended these concerts over the past few years. If you saw the band in the US in Spring or Summer 2004 and want to listen to the sound you heard, this is the CD to buy. If you already know Clegg s music, this is an excellent way to get updated on a master musician s newest phase. Hopefully it will be released domestically and will be a little less expensive, but it is still worth every penny!