Johnny Clegg Live! & More… with Savuka & Juluka
Picture: C+
Sound: B- Extras: C+ Music & Videos: B-
The drive to combine African music with other forms seems
to have fascinated many artists. Before
Paul Simon did Graceland and the evils of South Africa became a major
concern, one artist who was weathering the evils with the music was Johnny
Clegg. Clegg first became part of the
very regionally successful duo Juluka, which abruptly broke up when Clegg’s
partner retreated into private life. The
run was so popular, that MTV put the Music Video for Scatterings Of Africa
into heavy rotation, though even that did not make it a Top 40 hit. That clip and much more is covered in the
new Johnny Clegg Live! & More set, which includes much material form
that band and Savuka, his successor band.
The DVD’s main program is split into five sections as
follows:
Savuka – Live In Paris:
1) Umfazi
Omdala
2) Cruel
Crazy Beautiful World
3) Take My
Heart away
4) Jericho
5) It’s An
Illusion
6) Hambile/The
Dance
7) Scatterings
Of Africa
8) Warsaw
1943
9) Siyayilanda
10) Dela
11) Asimbonanga
12) One Man One Vote
13) I Call Your Name – Dance
Savuka Videos:
14) Great Heart
15) Third World Child (trying
to emulate and integrate video games of the time with the countryside of Africa
and the city in opposition.)
16) I Call Your Name (shot
in (or turned into) black and white, then colorized.)
17) These Days
18) The Crossing (1.78 X
1, the videos get more complex from here in this set.)
19) In My African Dream
20) When The System Has Fallen (1.78 X
1, looks like it has a film narrative)
21) Tough Enough (a
companion clip to In My African Dream)
Acoustic In Mae Sai:
22) Giyani
Jukuka Videos (which are from his band before Savuka):
23) Scatterings Of Africa (Do you
remember the MTV classic?)
24) December African Rain
25) Kilimanjaro (with a few old school
videotape tricks)
26) Fever
Juluka – Live In Cape Town:
27) Impi
28) Umbaqanga Music
The energy, sincerity and authenticity are
inarguable. Clegg grew up in South
Africa and stretches the music of where he is from into Pop territory in a way
that seems only possible in part due to the New Wave trend. It is no wonder he was a successful artist
and eventually got a shot on MTV. He
every much does with African music what Tim & Neil Finn in their solo, duo
and Split Enz work did with Maori music, even if Clegg is not as
successful. It certainly avoids some of
the limits Paul Simon ran into as a visitor of such music on Graceland
& Rhythm Of The Saints.
For Clegg and his various incarnations, each holds up
variously. Some of it runs into some
repetition and other tracks just sound like they are stuck in the 1980s. Some of the tracks are even political, but
all are at least ambitious. Some people
will find this more refreshing than others, but at least Clegg is an original,
which is something we do not see often enough.
He is usually very positive.
The image is usually full screen, except where noted
above. Most of this is shot on
videotape throughout, with the music videos most unashamed of that. The quality varies throughout, but all looks
pretty good for its age, however dated.
The sound on here is available in two Dolby Digital configurations, 2.0
Stereo with some Pro Logic surrounds and better 5.1 AC-3, which is not
bad. I just wish this was in DTS,
especially with the rich bass the origins of the African music offers. The extras include a Nelson Mandela tribute,
a bunch of text of Clegg’s song lyrics, a live Juluka performance Mantombana
– Dance – Concert In The Park and interview with Clegg about his life. This all adds up to over 2.5 hours of Clegg
and company in consistent form. If this
sounds especially like music you might like, or you are an old school MTV fan,
this disc is strongly recommended. If
it is not your kind of music, Johnny Clegg Live! & More is still
worth a good look.
- Nicholas Sheffo
