The famed South African vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo led by Joseph Shabalala creates moments of transformative beauty with their unique sound and vivid imagery. Choirs will enjoy recreating the evocative classic "Rain, Rain, Beautiful Rain". "Amavolovolo" is a popular Zulu traditional song as arranged by Rudolf de Beer, former conductor of the Drakensbeg Boys Choir of South Africa. What a vivid connection to the people and culture of that part of the world! Authentic percussion and movement suggestions give this selection great visual appeal. The Zulu dowry song "Imaliyam" will be a challenging and impressive concert feature. An excellent choice for better high school choirs and up.

Songlist: Imaliyam, Rain, Rain, Beautiful Rain, Amavolovolo

"Rain, Rain, Beautiful Rain" - The famed South African vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo led by Joseph Shabalala creates moments of transformative beauty with their unique sound and vivid imagery. Choirs will enjoy recreating this evocative work. "Harambee" - In Kenya, the Swahili word harambee has multiple meaning. When a group of people gather to complete a difficult physical task, they often say, "one, two, thre ... harambee!!" In this context the words means: "let's go, let's get it done." A special gathering to raise money for building a church or school is also called a harambee. These gatherings often feature long speeches, music and dancing. In the context of this composition, harambee means unity - working together. In a time of increased multi-cultural awareness, Bwana Awabariki offers an ideal piece of African culture for both churches and schools. The song emphasizes rhythm, blend, and African-style vocalism with broad, open chords and the familiar low, low bass part. This warm a cappella blessing would be especially effective with added percussion. This a cappella setting of a traditional South African praise song "Gabi, Gabi" just bursts with joyful energy. Dynamic contrast, percussion and a wide range of layered vocal textures make this an appealing concert choice.

Songlist: Rain, Rain, Beautiful Rain, Harambee, Bwana Awabariki, Gabi, Gabi

As Joseph Shabalala said when he was talking about recording Shaka Zulu, "Umcolo uthokozisa abadabukileyo." This means, "singing makes all the sad people happy because it is the voice of happiness." It also means that he was overjoyed to have been able to record his first U.S. release which was produced by his good friend, Paul Simon. It was 1987, and after recording twenty five records in Africa his musical message was finally becoming international. That message was, and is today, take pride in your heritage, create joy in your life and embrace all people. The strength of the message and the beauty of its musical transmission was reason for Shaka Zulu being awarded a Grammy in 1987 for Best Traditional Folk Recording. It also marks the beginning of Joseph's habit of writing some songs in English in order to make his music more accessible to our very different culture. This is a great recording for introducing new listeners to Ladysmith's music.

Songlist: Unomathemba, Hello My Baby, Golgotha, King of Kings, Lomhlaba Kawunoni (The Earth Never Gets Fat), How Long?, Ikhaya Lamaqhawe (Home of the Heroes), Yibo Labo (These Are the Guys), Rain, Rain, Beautiful Rain, Wawusho Kubani? (Who Were You Talking To?)

The Notre Dame Glee Club is a music tradition that began at the University in 1915. Since 1993, Daniel Stowe has led the Glee Club in world-wide tours with great success. Today, Glee Club repertoire is not just football songs, sea shanties and the alma mater theme. In recent years, the choir has been trimmed in numbers to 55 select singers, and their repertoire now focuses upon a wider range of styles: from German art songs, American spirituals, Russian Orthodox, Baroque and Renaissance sacred music, to Barbershop harmony and folk music from nations of the world. The Glee Club's versatility is showcased in the wide variety of genres on this disc.. The musicianship of the Glee Club is all the more remarkable when considering that the Glee Club is a volunteer ensemble, operating independently from music degree programs. Recorded in spring 2007, in the finely-tuned acoustic of Leighton Concert Hall in the newly-finished DiBartolo Performing Arts Center on the campus of University of Notre Dame.

Songlist: Rain, Rain, Beautiful Rain, Sweep Clean Mary, Daniel Saw the Stone, Prayer of the Children, Abendstanchen, Trinklied, Der Jager Abschied, Duh Tvoy blagiy, Slava v vishnih Bogu, Crucifixus, Domine, non sum dignus, Lamentations of Jeremaih, Down Among the Dead Men, Kpanlongo, Tancuj, Tancuj, Nicaragua, Nicaraguita, Whup! Jamboree, Tom's Gone to Hilo, Blow Ye Winds, Lowlands, Bonnie Hielan Laddie, The Elements, The Auctioneer, I Used to Call Her Baby, Who's Sorry Now? / Someday, Coney Island Baby / We All Fall