Miriam Makeba – Pata Pata

On the RTR Turntable this morning, what a wonderful album; inspired by the new Joe Boyd book And The Roots Of Rhythm Remain.

Many don't know, but just for owning this record in South Africa, could get you 6 to 7 years of prison.
Because of this record and others songs she was on exile for the 30 years.

Probably Piers Morgan would have considered her, by the western standards, a "terrorist".

After all the battles she fought for her Africa, she got to die in a far away land from hers, specifically Castel Volturno, Naples, Italy.
She decided to go to Castel Volturno, a small village located on the beautiful beaches of the Tyrrhenian Coast, destroyed since the 1960s from illegal real estate activities, in which, in the 21st Century, the majority of the population is of African origin, to hold a concert in solidarity of an atrocious attack to the African community that was ignited not because of racism, but because of the cancer of the local organized crime, also known as "camorra". Six people died, all innocents.

When she sadly ed away, Roberto Saviano, the famous Italian writer of the book "Gomorra", and expert of the Italian organized crime, wrote a letter that was later published on the Johannesburg Times to express his apologies. Somehow, he felt in a way "guilty" of what had happened to her, as she also went to Castel Volturno to see him, as she ired his work against the Camorra. He was going to give her an autographed copy of his book.

The letter also mentioned the grief of the fact that she got to die in a forgotten small town like Castel Volturno, away from her birthplace in Africa.

Two days later, Roberto received a response from her family, saying: "Don't worry Roberto, because Miriam died in Africa."

Wow – what a lovely LP - a beautiful dynamic melodic voice & optimistic African folk and orchestrated pop songs from the most important female vocalist to emerge out of South Africa – the empress of African song: Mama Africa.
Wonderful spiritual energy.

Apelidada de Mama África, a cantora sul-africana Zenzile Miriam Makeba tornou mundialmente conhecida a música do país depois do hit “Pata pata” — também registrada por Daúde e Carlinhos Brown em 1997.

Gravada originalmente em 1956, a música só estourou mesmo em 1967, quando uma compilação homônima foi lançada. O álbum tem um pouco de todos os estilos que consagrariam a cantora como uma das mais importantes do continente. Há faixas em inglês (como a balada “What is love” e “West wind”, que remete ao estilo de Nina Simone), em português (“Adeus, Maria Fulô”, parceria de Sivuca e Humberto Teixeira) e nos idiomas locais (caso de "Jol’inkomo" e da própria “Pata pata”).

Assim como Fela Kuti, Makeba foi uma intensa ativista política, o que lhe custou um exílio de 30 anos. A cantora era dada como atração certa na abertura da Copa do Mundo da África do Sul, mas faleceu em novembro de 2008, aos 76 anos.