It’s one of those ironies, that I was given a collection of Miriam Makeba’s music just last week  – that is to say, a week before the South African artist died, suffering a heart-attack after having sung at a solidarity concert for Italian author Roberto Saviano (who is living under escort, after the Neopolitan mafia issued a fatwa against him). 

News of her death pushed me to listen, with a slight sense of guilt, more attentively. There’s a host of factors at play whenever we discover new music – and guilt isn’t necessarily a bad motivation.  

And what music Makeba made.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V74f9eIi9c0