DOWNLOAD DOREEN'S ALBUM 'LONDON ZULU' AT THIS LINK:http://doreenthobekile.calabashmusic.com...BIOG...Doree
n is a Kwazulu roots diva of immaculate pedigree.She was lead singer with Trans Global Underground, for many years across many continents; one third of the legendary Shikisha trio; Chachouka; star of Ipi Tombi, West End show of the late '70's.Also,she's a solo roots star with a phenomenal voice and squeeze box ,singing Zulu songs and rhythms. An accomplished, singer, dancer and instrumentalist, Doreen was born in Natal then grew up in Durban, South Africa. She plays African instruments such as mbira and umqangala. ...when Doreen sings the whole world seems to stop and listen to a voice that could well have kicked off the Big Bang' Straight No Chaser. The CD,London Zulu is a collaboration between Doreen and the production and programming skills of UK global fusion merchants Trans-Global Underground. While plenty of South African music has found an audience in the UK theres been less music from the South African British diaspora that leans on both its African and European roots. LONDON ZULU is a record by an artist equally at home playing playback club dates in London, kwaito, Afrobeat, township jive, jazz soul and hiphop. It takes a long time and much effort to distill experiences as wild ,adventurous and as strange as Doreens into one record.it can take a whole career. When asked what she did before releasing this album she says I was working on it! Doreen Thobekile became known in South Africa initially as a dancer, starring in the stage show African Follies. She worked in South Africa as a dancer and singer and appearing in a number of films (she turns up in the British film Zulu starring Michael Caine). African Follies was a big success and went on tour outside South Africa. In Zimbabwe, then Rhodesia, while still on tour, Doreen got married to a white Briton. On orders from the South African government the Rhodesians deported them both and Doreen arrived in the UK with no passport. Doreen rapidly found work in London and was lead singer in the London version of the West End South African musical Ipi Tombi for 8 years. This led to her being a founder member of Shikisha, a Zulu womens vocal and dance trio, which toured all over the world, backing Miriam Makeba amongst others, while doing sessions in London for all sorts of unexpected people such as David Essex, Howard Jones, and the KLF, which led to Doreen appearing on a number 1 UK single singing alongside Tammy Wynette! Along the way Doreen wrote and recorded demos of her own songs, which reflected her experiences between the UK and South Africa, and started looking for the right partners to bring them into the world with. She played regular dates backed by an acoustic group, but the songs demanded an approach that could bring them to a wider audience. At this point Doreen met up with Trans-Global Underground. Appearing on their fourth album, Rejoice Rejoice she rapidly became part of the TGU family and joined them on their endless touring schedule that took them through the end of the millennium and onwards, through Kazakhstan, India, Venezuela and eventually back to Cape Town and Johannesburg in the new democratic South Africa. Meanwhile she conducted arts workshops in schools, kept working in studios, and appeared onstage as a singer, as a dancer and as an actress. Most people would have considered that enough to be going on with.but Doreen saw in TGUs mixing of traditional and dance music a chance to get her own musical ideas out into the world, and began recording with TGU at their studio in Farringdon. The first result of this was Hambanam a track that mixed Doreens voice, mbira and odu against TGUs electronic backing. It became a cult club track in London and appeared on the Six Degrees compilation The Outernationalists. Encouraged by this, Doreen and TGU worked on other songs and performed them live round the capital. The final results you can hear on London Zulu. IYAHOSH IMAMBA and UMHLAHLO start from the UK but take on a heavy influence of South African kwaito, while KHALIMA and UMFOLOZI head in the opposite direction, South African songs with a breakbeat feel. INTO ERRONGO features the gorgeous sitar playing of Sheema Mukherjee. Doreen sings in English as well as Zulu, also playing Mbira and Concertina, bringing both a township groove funk feel to BAMKILE, and a more traditional acoustic groove on BABA KA PHULUDENSI. Doreen's music music is for the head, the heart and the feet from the North and the South to all parts of the compass. Distributed by AMD (Alternative Music Distribution) For more info: [email protected].
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