SINGER, songwriter, guitarist and producer Selaelo Selota is back in the vernacular of his birth with his fifth Afro-jazz and soul album Lapeng Laka.

With success and worldwide recognition a reality, his latest 11-track release is essentially a trip down memory lane, where he walks the listener through the corridors he calls home.

Filled with childhood memories, stories and rhythms, Selota's latest musical avowal will also soon be enjoyed stateside with a release that will see this father of five spending even more time away from the place that inspired this critically acclaimed tribute to his roots.

Lapeng Laka loosely translated means "in my house" in sePedi, and is Salaelo's tribute to a place and language that time seems to have forgotten.

While he has ploughed and planted over the past decade, today Selota's truly South African harvest is now feeding the needy beyond the borders of his birth.

Limpopo province, Selota's birthplace, is an area rich in history that has never had its musical worth mined.

"I have a very real sense that while many music fans both in South Africa and beyond have had contact with traditional Xhosa or Zulu music, sePedi's folklore and folk music is still hidden from view," he explains. "I want to change that with this album."

North America and, more recently, Los Angeles have become his homes-from-home and places where Selota's sound is catching on.

"The Americans love what's coming out of southern Africa," he says. "They're intrigued by what we do and can't quite figure out how we do it. That got me asking the same questions they were and in the process of recording this album, rediscovering where my inspiration and talent came from.

"Sometimes you have to leave a place before you realise just how much wealth it holds," he says. "These progressive American musicians made me dig into my own foundation, so their influence of my influence on them is serving us all rather well, it would seem."

Selota's cultural crusade is not new. It started back in 2000 with the release of Painted Faces.

"It was then that I saw how hungry people were to learn more about our diverse heritage," he recalls.

The accolades poured in. The most auspicious of these included two coveted SA Music Awards in 2001 for Best Newcomer and Best Contemporary Jazz Album.

Enchanted Gardens, Stories Live and Told and The Azanian Songbook followed, and each album brought with it Selota's vision of celebrating this country's musical wealth.

"I realised very early on in my career that people liked what I did, but I needed to talk a common language if I wanted to get their attention," he says.

"I found that voice in Afro-jazz and soul. Music should go beyond language and I think I may have finally achieved that with Lapeng Laka."

With travelling the world and immersing himself in matters of the planet, Selota's watershed moment has been a long time in the making, considering he has written and recorded five albums in the process. "It's a new thing," he agrees. "Lapeng Laka is all roots-based and because of that it's also my most honest album yet, if only because it comes from home."

"We are living in one of the most exciting democracies in the world," he adds. "The multiplicity of culture and dynamism in the country excites me a great deal. Our society is finally coming to terms with itself and Lapeng Laka is confirmation of that."

Today Selota is far more than just a gifted musician - he's also a teacher to his fans both local and abroad. "I went in to record a traditional album and came out with world music record and it all happened entirely unconsciously," he points out.

"All musicians want to share their vision and each new album allows me to continue teaching and, more importantly, to be taught in a contemporary space."

His producer's role (including on Judith Sephuma's 2008 album, Change Is Here) has also seen him discovering new talent. His latest find is the supremely gifted pianist and solo artist, Malatji, now signed to Selota's Live At The Shack record label and who also plays piano throughout his new album.

All the original song lyrics have been painstakingly translated into English and Lapeng Laka, with its tales of trials and tribulations, coupled with moving melodies, complement and complete yet another great chapter for this artist.

Selota is, after all, a man passionate about keeping the traditional relevant while rewarding his growing audience with beautiful music that is bound to live on.

by Jason Curtis