LPCDreissues: Looking forward to the past

South African singer Letta Mbulu had come to the United States in the mid 60s as an exile from the apartheid regime in her home country of South Africa. For nearly 30 years she toured, acted and recorded music until her triumphant return to her home after the the dismantling of apartheid in the 1990s. The music she recorded was always exceptional, and her one offering for Fantasy is a very special recording. She was brought to the label through her friendship with Cannonball Adderley - they shared a manager at one point. He appears on the album alongside his brothe Nat. Her husband Caiphus Semenya produced and worked alongside members of the Crusaders creating the mix of funk and African sounds, which meld beautifully."