Mahlathini in the Morning

It all started when I read a story about Zimbabwe's political problems this morning on the Guardian newspaper's Web site.
I immediately located Harare, Zimbabwe on Google Earth.
Then I began to meander a bit on the satellite-image mapping service. I worked my way over to Johannesburg, South Africa... I checked out some farms in the Free State... then I began tracing the Orange River through Griqualand to its exit to the sea at Alexander Bay, near the border with Namibia. I studied the numerous irrigated farms and the harsh canyons surrounding the Orange.
Suitably inspired, I uploaded "The Rough Guide to the Music of South Africa" CD on my iPod.
En route to work, I found myself singing along -- as best I could, since I don't understand the language -- to "Nyamphemphe," an impossibly catchy song by Mahlathini & The Mahotella Queens.
Simon "Mahlathini" Nkabinde is one of the finest practitioners of "mbaqanga," a classic South African vocal style matching a bellowing, ultra-bass lead vocalist with softer, all-female harmonizing.
Once I arrived at work, I felt as if I had traveled halfway round the world, instead of just a couple of miles from north Dubuque to downtown.
Isn't that one of the greatest things about music?
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