An Evening with Belafonte/Makeba

An Evening with Belafonte/Makeba is a Grammy Award-winning 1965 album by Harry Belafonte and Miriam Makeba, released by RCA Victor. It was the second outcome of the long lasting collaboration between Belafonte and Makeba, the first being the appearance of Makeba in the song "One More Dance" on Belafonte's 1960 album, Belafonte Returns to Carnegie Hall.

An Evening with Belafonte/Makeba
Studio album by
Released1965
RecordedRCA Victor Studio A, New York City
GenreWorld music
LabelRCA Victor
ProducerAndy Wiswell
Harry Belafonte chronology
Ballads, Blues and Boasters
(1964)
An Evening with Belafonte/Makeba
(1965)
An Evening with Belafonte/Mouskouri
(1966)
Miriam Makeba chronology
Makeba Sings!
(1965)
An Evening with Belafonte/Makeba
(1965)
The Magic of Makeba
(1966)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [1]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[2]

Despite the title, the album is not a collection of live duet performances by Harry Belafonte and Makeba. It is a studio album of 12 tracks, five by Belafonte, five by Makeba, and two duets. The songs are all African traditional tunes sung in tribal languages like Xhosa and Zulu.

In the mid-1960s, Belafonte was very active in supporting emerging African artists as well as making African music known worldwide, and this album is an example of this activity. It includes classical African songs like Malaika (with the English title My Angel) as well as songs in African languages such as Zulu, Sotho and Swahili.

Track listing

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  1. "Train Song" (Mbombela)– 3:08 (Harry + Miriam)
  2. "'In the Land of the Zulus" (Kwazulu) – 2:30 (sung by Miriam Makeba)
  3. "Hush, Hush" (Thula Thula) – 3:03 (sung by Harry Belafonte)
  4. "To Those We Love" (Nongqongqo)– 2:15 (sung by Miriam Makeba)
  5. "Give Us Our Land" – 2:27 (sung by Harry Belafonte)
  6. "Ndodemnyama Verwoerd!" – 2:05 (sung by Miriam Makeba)
  7. "Gone Are My Children" – 2:47 (sung by Harry Belafonte)
  8. "Hurry, Mama, Hurry!" – 3:25 (sung by Miriam Makeba)
  9. "My Angel" – 3:12 (Harry + Miriam)
  10. "Cannon" – 2:47 (sung by Miriam Makeba)
  11. "Lullaby" – 2:46 (sung by Harry Belafonte)
  12. "Show Me the Way, My Brother" – 3:10 (sung by Harry Belafonte)

Personnel

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  • Harry Belafonte – vocals (1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12)
  • Miriam Makeba – vocals (1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10)
  • Sam Brown – guitar
  • Eddie Diehl – guitar
  • Marvin Falcon – guitar
  • Ernie Calabria – guitar
  • Jay Berliner – guitar
  • William Salter – bass
  • John Cartwright – bass
  • Auchee Lee – percussion
  • Solomon Ilori – percussion
  • Chief Bey – percussion
  • Ralph MacDonald – percussion
  • Percy Brice – percussion

Production

  • Andy Wiswell – producer
  • Conducted by Jonas Gwangwa and Howard Roberts
  • Arrangements by Jonas Gwangwa
  • Harry Belafonte – executive producer, liner notes
  • Bob Simpson – engineer

References

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  1. ^ Allmusic review
  2. ^ Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press. ISBN 9780857125958. Retrieved 21 May 2019.