North Shore Towers Courier n March 2014 25 The Country Club VIP room was the scene of a musical history lesson on Tuesday, February 18, with the screening of Joe Berlinger’s 2012 documentary, “Under African Skies,” chronicling Paul Simon’s return to South Africa and marking the 25th anniversary of his seminal, yet controversial “Graceland” album. Simon violated a United Nations cultural boycott of apartheid South Africa in 1985 to record tracks for the record, without consulting with the African National Congress, as he had been advised by his friend, Harry Belafonte. Reconciliation is the focus of the widely acclaimed film, both of the firestorm of criticism surrounding Simon’s project and questions about due credit being given to local musicians and their contribution to the work. One notable sequence, a conversation between Simon and Dali Tambo, the South African co-founder of Artists Against Apartheid, ends in mutual respect if not complete reconciliation. Another, a duet between Simon and Chevy Chase on “Saturday Night Live,” is a reminder that the album helped raise awareness among masses that weren’t paying attention to the politics. Indeed, musicians like Joseph Shabalala and his a capella group Ladysmith Black Mambazo were virtually unknown here before “Graceland.” In retrospect, with South Africa arguably the most enlightened country on the African continent, Simon’s defiance of political wisdom reprises the wisdom of Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis: “Sunlight is said to be the best disinfectant.” PHOTOS BY MIKE SAVITZKY Anne Brady stands behind (from left) Hy and Debby Newman, Sol Stern and Bernard Jacobson Diana Albert Evan and Margie Fink Ruth Resnick (left), Anne Rapp Patricia Duclos Roma Connable, Arlene Kelvin Sol Cohen, Claire Levitan
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