Customer Reviews

Live at El Rey

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I just picked this CD up during an intermission at a small club in St. Louis. Thomas Mapfumo's band was red-hot and it was a thrill to see them live. I was lucky enough to go backstage and have them each sign this CD. Afterwards, popping the disc on in my car I was at first disappointed. I wanted to hear that lilting, lyrical guitar; the wonderful female vocalist; the horns. But this is Thomas Mapfumo unplugged--two mbiras (traditional African thumb pianos) take centerstage supported only by sinewy drums and the most amazing bass guitar heard in a long time. By the second cut I was hooked. In the days since, I've found myself returning to the haunting, hypnotic sounds of the mbira. There's nothing else like it. But don't mistake LIVE AT EL REY for a chill-out album. This music cooks. And if you're like me, you'll be dancing in your car all the way to work...

I was there. I was there the night this CD was recorded at the El Rey Theater in Albuquerque, New Mexico. What a night! Actually, I was in the band that opened for The Blacks Unlimited that night. The band called Animal Opera. The night was filled with raw energy that is evidenced on this recording. The producer, Manny Rettinger, worked meticulously to capture every gram of this incredible energy on this incredible night. Mapfumo's more basic band with 2 mbiras, bass, drums, and himself provided an extremely intimate structure for non-Shonas to peer into the magical art of Chimurenga music. Buy this CD and see for yourself how mesmerizing this music is and how it will carry into other times, places, attitudes, and states of mind. I must comment on the fact that this band is a great bunch of guys and I still enjoy remembering the times I got to hang-out with them. Thanks Thomas and the Blacks Unlimited.

Like others that wrote, I saw Thomas in concert and was surprised to find myself in the aisle dancing a few songs into the show. This album is unplugged, so instead of waking you up with the happy frenzy that I experienced at the concert, it gently eases your mind as Mapfumo plays music that rejuvenates the heart and has a timeless appeal to the soul.

Many CD's are just over-rehearsed, regurgitated, formulaic and frankly boring... This CD will go down in history as a very important recording. WHY, you ask? Simply put IT HAD NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE and (the tour/recording) should not have happened. BUT IT DID HAPPEN!!! DUE TO THOMAS' & HIS PROMOTER'S VISION. To hear THIS music in this unplugged format, with' Thomas' voice, the mbiras (multiple of course), drums and bass (on some songs) is simply beyond the "unplugged" format. IT REDEFINES THE "UNPLUGGED" FORMAT!!! It took me several listenings before I realized that this was a very special CD. It has been said that Mozart wrote songs in which the listener not only heard the music but was also able to see or feel the music. This recording will probably ensure that Thomas Mapfumo be remembered along with great composers of any generation/culture or genre. For those of you who are laughing at this comment, listen before you laugh...
The Sleeper

Heaven, music and earth meet on this album. The music is mind altering, the rhythms are other worldly and everything fits! Too often singers and their singing get in the way of the rest of the music, but on this album the balance is exemplary. Surely music such as this will and should be appreciated by people of all cultures and all times. How sad it is that this album will not get any real radio air time anywhere. Thomas is better with this ensemble of musos and nothing gets in the way. I did not once miss the electric guitars or horns. Enough is the mbira for a witness!!! I have only three words of advice for anyone who reads this. Buy! Buy! Buy!

I was there. I was there the night this CD was recorded at the El Rey Theater in Albuquerque, New Mexico. What a night! Actually, I was in the band that opened for The Blacks Unlimited that night. The band called Animal Opera. The night was filled with raw energy that is evidenced on this recording. The producer, Manny Rettinger, worked meticulously to capture every gram of this incredible energy on this incredible night. Mapfumo's more basic band with 2 mbiras, bass, drums, and himself provided an extremely intimate structure for non-Shonas to peer into the magical art of Chimurenga music. Buy this CD and see for yourself how mesmerizing this music is and how it will carry into other times, places, attitudes, and states of mind. I must comment on the fact that this band is a great bunch of guys and I still enjoy remembering the times I got to hang-out with them. Thanks Thomas and the Blacks Unlimited.