True Jit
Studio album by
Bhundu Boys
Released1987
StudioPower Plant Studios
LabelJit Five
Mango[1]
ProducerRobin Millar
Bhundu Boys chronology
Tsvimbodzemoto
(1987)		 True Jit
(1987)		 Pamberi
(1989)

True Jit is an album by the Zimbabwean band the Bhundu Boys, released in 1987, with an international release in 1988.[2][3]

The band supported the album with a North American tour.[4] True Jit sold around 30,000 copies in its first decade of release.[5]

Production

Recorded in London, at Power Plant Studios, the album was produced by Robin Millar.[6][7][8] Breaking a promise to sing only in Shona, the band recorded some songs with English lyrics.[9] The Bhundu Boys later expressed regret over allowing their record company to dictate so much of the album's sound.[10]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[11]
Chicago Sun-Times[7]
Robert ChristgauB+[12]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[13]
MusicHound World: The Essential Album Guide[14]

Robert Christgau wrote that "they're victims of crossover, compromising and accommodating when they should be expanding and appropriating ... And they're still not half-bad."[12] The New York Times noted that the album "mixes in some South African jive and West African soukous, moving toward pan-African music."[6] The Times called it "a light, breezy foray" and a "harnessing [of] traditional shuffling rhythms and light, trilling guitar patterns to a modern pop sensibility."[15]

The Christian Science Monitor concluded that True Jit "is aimed at the American pop market, and loses in the process," but conceded that "the group still has the lilting rhythms, complex guitar countermelodies, and harmonically rich vocals."[16] USA Today stated that the band link "anti-apartheid and Pan-African messages with the joys of dancing."[17] The Financial Times deemed it an "exhilarating ... and barrier breaking fusion of Africa and the West."[18]

AllMusic wrote that the album sacrificed "the elegant simplicity of their earlier work for an over-produced, Westernized sound that alienated their core fan base."[2]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Jit Jive" 
2."My Foolish Heart" 
3."Chemedzevana" 
4."Rugare" 
5."Vana (The Children)" 
6."Wonderful World" 
7."Ndoitasei" 
8."Susan" 
9."African Woman" 
10."Happy Birthday" 
11."Jekesa" 

References

  1. ↑ Lazarus, Neil; Neil, Lazarus (May 20, 1999). "Nationalism and Cultural Practice in the Postcolonial World". Cambridge University Press – via Google Books.
  2. 1 2 "The Bhundu Boys Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic.
  3. ↑ Hilburn, Robert (12 Sep 1987). "MADONNA BOOSTS THE BHUNDU BOYS". Los Angeles Times. Calendar. p. 5.
  4. ↑ Stout, Gene (April 22, 1988). "The Bhundu Boys". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. What's Happening. p. 9.
  5. ↑ Palmberg, Mai; Baaz, Maria Eriksson; Eriksson, Maria Baaz (April 24, 2001). "Same and Other: Negotiating African Identity in Cultural Production". Nordic Africa Institute – via Google Books.
  6. 1 2 Pareles, Jon (28 Aug 1988). "Pop Passports – At a Price". The New York Times. p. A17.
  7. 1 2 McLeese, Don (January 7, 1988). "African artists tap into pop market". Chicago Sun-Times. Features. p. 45.
  8. ↑ Thompson, Graeme (September 17, 2006). "The rise and fall of The Bhundu Boys". the Guardian.
  9. ↑ Dafoe, Chris (13 Aug 1988). "Musical encounters of an exotic kind". The Globe and Mail. p. C16.
  10. ↑ Moon, Tom (26 Aug 1988). "BHUNDU BOYS OFFER SOME 'JIT'". The Philadelphia Inquirer. FEATURES WEEKEND. p. 32.
  11. ↑ "True Jit - The Bhundu Boys | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
  12. 1 2 "Robert Christgau: CG: Bhundu Boys". www.robertchristgau.com.
  13. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 1. MUZE. p. 583.
  14. ↑ MusicHound World: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 2000. p. 82.
  15. ↑ Sinclair, David (October 24, 1987). "Outside Graceland". The Times.
  16. ↑ Duncan, Amy (7 Sep 1988). "ROCK/POP/JAZZ". The Christian Science Monitor. Arts.
  17. ↑ Ayers, Anne (6 Dec 1988). "Albums with the international beat". USA Today. p. 6D.
  18. ↑ Thorncroft, Anthony (October 3, 1987). "Arts: Bad To Bing Via West Coast Hip". Financial Times. p. XXIII.
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