Reviewed by George Luke

Quatuor Yimbila are Joel, Joseph, Antonie and Andre - four seasoned musicians originally from the Republic of Congo (Capital Brazzaville), but now based in South Africa. They have been singing together now for sixteen years, and their website describes their music as "a unique style of Negro Spiritual Gospel songs," which they perform in English, French, Afrikaans and Kikongo. None of that information prepared me for what I heard when I put their CD on. I had no idea that either the Congo or South Africa were hotbeds for barbershop-style country quartets! After I got over the initial shock and gave it another listen, I found myself warming to their re-workings of "O Happy Day" and Louis Armstrong's "What A Wonderful World", but for the most part, the African/Country combination didn't really work for me. Interesting in places, but on the whole this is more likely to appeal to Gaither Family Homecoming fans than to people looking for the next Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

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