Sibongile Khumalo’s new album inspired by lullaby

Since then she has released eight albums – including two live recordings and a compilation.

Ancient Evenings was a pioneering work that explored the choral and indigenous songbook in a way no other artist had done before. It was like a breath of new life in a musical landscape that was longing for artistic innovation. But recording an album that celebrated home-grown sounds in such a majestic fashion was also a natural starting point for someone who grew up under the influence of traditional artists, like Princess Magogo ka Dinuzulu, as well as her father choral master Professor Khabi Mngoma. The album included compositions by choral masters such as Professor Mzilikazi Khumalo and Joshua Mohapeloa.

Well received by music fans and critically acclaimed in the media, Ancient Evenings won two South African Music Awards (SAMA) in the Best Female Vocal Performance and Best Adult Contemporary Performance categories.

Since then, the songbird has continued to craft a discography with unique albums that attest to her exceptional talents as a singer, songwriter and producer.

Her sophomore offering Live at the Market Theatre (1998) was described by John Kani as a milestone in the history of the world-famous playhouse. An expression of her jazz orientation, the live recording was a celebration of jazz classics from the pens of Mackay Davashe, Abdullah Ibrahim, Miriam Makeba, Dorothy Masuka, Moses Molelekwa, Bheki Mseleku, Victor Madoda Ndlazilwane, Winston Mankunku Ngozi and Caiphus Semenya.

The performance was also about paying tribute to some of the country’s songbirds who paved the way for young singers like her. “I always wanted to emulate Letta Mbulu’s sound as a young singer trying to find her own voice,” she says. “I’m eternally grateful for who and what she is.

“Sophie Mgcina mentored me. Watching Thandi Klaasen on stage taught me that a good sense of humour enhances the enjoyment of a performance.”

Other women who were torch bearers during Khumalo’s formative years, and continue to inspire her, include Ella Fitzgerald, Carmen McRae, Dianne Reeves and Sarah Vaughan. And of course her long-time appreciation and arrangements of Princess Magogo’s works is a well-documented story.

Khumalo’s latest offering Breath of Life is her fifth studio album and second recording under her label Magnolia Vision Records. Described as “a celebration of life, children and possibility that is present within our lives”, Breath of Life was inspired by a lullaby she sang for her grandson.

Thematically, it is a multifaceted work that touches on various realities of life – including death, healing, truth, work and gratitude.

“Expressing gratitude is important to me,” she says. “It allows for a sense of located-ness and awareness in every moment. It is an energy radiating peace and calmness, allowing one to appreciate life, people and situations,” she explains. The theme of gratitude is taken to another level in the devotional second track 'Grace and Mercy'.

The opening track 'The Call' is an appeal to South Africans to work hard in order to build a better and more prosperous nation. It is about social responsibility and a sense of duty to one’s country and fellow citizens. Khumalo continues with this theme in 'Warriors of Peace' – a spiritual tune she describes as “a theme song for the courageous and fearless among us who, on a daily basis, pick up the baton and continue the crusade to seek truth, to transcend difference, to teach, to heal and not only dream but also to do”.

She continues: “It is a song for those who are more than just champions, those who are a people with heart who know that we are bound together. It is an ode to the cycle of healing.”

A work that has been in the making for five years, Breath of Life, like its predecessors, reflects the artist’s commitment to music and powerful songs that get to the heart of her audiences. “I embrace the gift of healing energy transported in the beings of all the little ones,” she remarks on the major inspiration for this album. “Through the laughter and joy in their voices, I have experienced the deep and abiding love of the Great Ones. Through their eyes I am able to see what is possible. Through their ears I listen and seek to understand. I am thankful for the divine that lives in and through them.”

The closing track 'This Land, South Africa' is an adaptation of celebrated poet and liberation bard Don Mattera’s poem. It is a paean to the country’s breathtakingly beautiful landscape and a prayer for the healing of its troubled soul. “This land, the whole land, will be healed, it must be healed,” she sings. “Each grain of sand north to south, east to west... the smiling hills, the angry mountains, the robust rivers, the timid brooks, the feeding cornfields, the jabbing jacarandas, the pointing pine and the partisan proteas.”

Khumalo recalls that when she received a signed anthology titled Faces of Trees: Poems of Struggle, Freedom and Kin (2008) and came across this poem, she immediately fell in love with it. “I knew that I had to use it for my music and when the opportunity arose for me to work on this album, I knew that its message resonated with the themes of healing and gratitude that I wanted to express to the audiences.”

As in the previous recordings, she has assembled talented and respected musical minds in the country to accompany her. Themba Mokoena, arguably the most outstanding jazz guitarist of his generation, features on the title track, with pianist Paul Hanmer lending his silky keyboard skills on 'Evening Song' and 'Sula Izinyembezi (Wipe Away Your Tears)'. Drummer Sabu Satsha and pianist-keyboardist Mdu Mtshali complete the instrumental line-up, while daughter Ayanda Khumalo features on vocals.

Mainly responsible for composing all the nine tracks, Khumalo co-produced the album with Mtshali, one of the rare but unheralded talents on the ivories. “His unusual skill and calm presence had given me the confidence to venture out beyond simply being a singer in the band,” she says.

Devotional, contemplative and spiritual, this album is Sibongile Khumalo’s most expressive and eloquent statement yet about themes of healing and gratitude to Providence.

Digital copies of Breath of Life are available online at cdbaby.com and on iTunes, while physical copies can be bought at Just CDs in Braamfontein and in Johannesburg’s CBD.

Originally published on 19 February 2016 in the African Independent.