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1966 · Album

The Magnificent Miriam Makeba

↑ Miriam Makeba

The Magnificent Miriam Makeba

Makeba's Mercury Debut, Stepping Into New Light

Her first record after leaving RCA Victor, and a clear sign of where she was headed.

The Magnificent Miriam Makeba arrived in 1966 as her first album after moving from RCA Victor to Mercury, so it carries the feeling of a new start. Makeba was by then a singer with a strong international profile, and this record shows her working with a fresh label and a different sense of how her voice could sit in a recording.

What stands out is the warmth and control of her singing. She moves easily between South African material and the broader popular repertoire she was known for, and her phrasing stays clean and direct throughout. Listeners coming to her from the more folk-leaning work of her earlier years will hear a recording that leans toward polish without losing her natural focus.

AllMusic reviewer Stacia Proefrock gave the album 4.5 out of 5, which places it among the more admired entries in Makeba's catalogue. It is a good record to start with if you want an accessible entry point into her work from this period, and it marks a clear moment of transition in a career that kept expanding well beyond it.

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More Vocal Jazz
Waltz for Debby (Monica Zetterlund & Bill Evans) 1964
Monica Zetterlund
Recording Info
Track listing
1Mr. Man
2Imagine Me
3La Bushe (Congo Bushe)
4Where Are You Going
5Charlie (Oh Mama)
6West Wind
7A Piece of Ground
8That's How It Goes (Ntsizwa)
9My Love Is Young
10Oh, Tell Me My Mother (Wa Thint'a Madoda)
11I'm in Love With Spring
12Akana Nkomo
Musicians
Further Reading
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Where next?

More Vocal Jazz
Waltz for Debby (Monica Zetterlund & Bill Evans) 1964
Monica Zetterlund
Anita O’Day Swings Cole Porter With Billy May 1959
Billy May
Wishes You a Swinging Christmas 1960
Ella Fitzgerald
Wave 1967
Antonio Carlos Jobim
All 73 Vocal Jazz artists →

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