With a sound reminiscent of Paul Simon's Graceland, the South African rock band, Sharon Katz and the Peace Train, rattled main street Schoharie with pounding drums, electric guitar, saxophone, and a pulsating six string bass guitar played by one of the largest men I have ever seen. One would have to be as large as "Pop" Wilson to play the six-string bass as if it were a standard guitar. According the Katz, the band has been traveling the post aparthied South African countryside uniting the people with music. With Nelson Mandella as their inspiration, the Peace Train literally travels by train to spread the word of commonality among people of various ethnic backgounds. South Africa has improved since 1990, but there are still tensions, said Katz, and the music is one vehicle with which to help make things better.
True to this theme, most of the songs intertwined this message with upbeat African rock, and although I have already compared it to Paul Simon, I would have to qualify that: the music is more authentic than Graceland in that it is without the personal explorations of an individual, completely unrelated to the origins of the music. Instead, Sharon Katz and the Peace Train are a slice of the life people are leading in South Africa. The music and lyrics are inseparable.
Their new release will be available in the United States in June of 2002. Keep Graceland in your collection, but to hear the music in its original context, hunt down any of The Peace Train's albums. |
