Miriam Makeba's voice is as majestic and contoured as the Magaliesberg, a range of sloping grassy peaks near her home city of Johannesburg, South Africa. Makeba's nickname is "Mama Africa," and rightfully so. You can hear her homeland in her voice. As she lags behind a beat, drawing out emotion, one feels the weight of apartheid bearing down. Caught up in one of her forceful, husky glissandos, it's hard not to imagine soaring above the lush expanse of the African veld.
Many of today's female singers are content to paint their songs in two primary colors: blue longing or red lust....
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