Malawian singer-songwriter-guitarist Wambali’s album, assembled in Johannesburg with a range of expert South African instrumentalists, has some nice surprises.
Raising it above standard world music offerings are two collaborations with Tony Cox, a well-organised brass section (by Rhino Horns) and a tour de force in an Afro-Celtic vein involving Julian and Melissa Wiggins on the tin whistle and the Irish fiddle. Step forward, the mysterious Wigginses. They can play, and I think we should hear more of them.
This is an album for guitar-fanciers. Apart from Wambali’s moody, classically influenced arpeggios and Cox’s understated acoustic lead, the album showcases the veteran Malawian electric guitar-picker George Phiri. Malawi is a nation of guitarists whose style has been coloured by South African idioms imported by migrant workers. Phiri, known for his part in the regional ensemble Mahube, ranges widely and inventively, from blues and rock to mbaqanga.
On the downside, Wambali’s baritone voice, lacking both variety and intensity, palls over 12 tracks.
In addition, Zani Muwone makes extensive use of the soprano saxophone, an instrument that drowns everything it touches in treacle and instantly evokes schmaltzmeister Kenny G. Like the Romanian pan pipes and the autoharp, there is no place for this instrument in the civilised world.