Two Worlds One Heart [Warner Bros., 1990]
Joseph Shabalala is a modest fellow only on the surface--black South Africans neglect that role at their peril. From the stylistic revolution he imposed on his chosen style to his principled pursuit of international glory, he has the lineaments of a pop visionary, and here he arrives at a crossover that does the style proud, moving gracefully from Zulu to English within and between songs and pumping the a cappella rhythms with instruments on three cuts. Twice Ray Phiri masterminds suitably simple mbaqanga tracks, but the big man is George Clinton, whose "Scatter the Fire" neither obscures nor ignores the singers with their name on the cover. I urge the Jungle Brothers to volunteer for a remix. A-