LADYSMITH BLACK MAMBAZO. There's no more awe-inspiring sound in music than the vocal tapestries of these South African singers. For their Long Walk to Freedom (Heads Up/Telarc; Music ••••, SACD ••••), they've recut old favorites with guest artists. Such interminglings can be overdone (look at the Chieftains' excessively collaborative catalog), but the guests here - including Melissa Etheridge, Zap Mama, and Natalie Merchant - are respectfully nonintrusive. And this garden of aural delight is given a superb surround styling by Martin Walters, as the octet's vocals reverberate from all angles (with the lead voice, logically enough, in the center channel). You can hear air in the spacious mix, as well as tongue clicks and rolls erupting here and there. Walters helps bring out the detail, depth, and fire of Mambazo, making it sound like a great long-lost doo-wop group in "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes" and the bluesy "How Long." The album's spirituality reaches a pinnacle in the title track, whose grateful optimism will bring a tear to the eye. - Parke Puterbaugh

DAVID BOWIE. Fans will definitely want the new editions of David Live (DTS Signature Series/EMI; Music ••^½, DVD-Audio Mix ••••, Extras ••) and Stage (Music •••^½, DVD-A Mix ••••, Extras ••) because original producer (and now surround mixer) Tony Visconti has turned them into something special. The track lineups now follow the concerts' actual running order. Songs omitted from the LP and CD versions (due to time constraints) have been restored, expanding David Live and Stage to 21 and 20 cuts. And each multichannel mix places you right in the venue - about the tenth row, per Visconti's detailed liner notes - with audience noise and some music apportioned to the surround channels and with most of the sound spread across the three channels up front.

I would've preferred more in the center channel, which resembles the muted surrounds more than the roaring left and right fronts. And on Stage, I wish the guitars of Carlos Alomar and Adrian Belew had figured more prominently in both the arrangements and the mix. But there's no denying that a new vitality has been brought to these shows. (Even the stereo versions have been remixed, making them necessities for Bowie diehards who aren't surround-ready.) Alas, extras are minimal: photo galleries and Web links.

As for the music, Stage is the more illuminating and electrifying show, recorded in 1978 when Bowie was experiencing a creative rebirth. David Live caught him at a pallid low point - in 1974, between Diamond Dogs and Young Americans - purveying what he would later call "relentless plastic soul." David Sanborn's smarmy sax stylings are an annoyance, and the performance is just coolly professional. But Bowie is Bowie - which is to say, never uninteresting. - Parke Puterbaugh

GERSHWIN. Michel Camilo's Rhapsody in Blue (Telarc; Performance •••^½, SACD •••^½) and a Gershwin collection from Leonard Slatkin and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra (Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab; Performance ••••, SACD ••••^½) share only the Rhapsody. But the polar-opposite approaches to this ever popular jazz/classical masterpiece demonstrate its hybrid origins.

Jazz pianist Camilo bends and twists the musical line, but in doing so delivers a performance that fascinates, forcing you to hear the work with new ears. It's clearly Camilo's Rhapsody - as the cover art makes especially clear, with his name above the title (and the composer's name nowhere to be seen). On the Saint Louis disc, soloist Jeffrey Siegel - whose name isn't on the cover at all - lets Gershwin's music soar and swing. Still, he and Slatkin unmistakably see it as classical music with jazz influences.

The highlights of the Mobile Fidelity set are scintillating renditions of An American in Paris and Catfish Row (Suite from Porgy and Bess). MoFi's remastering of the 1975 LP is superb, with well-judged surround placement and clearly detailed solos. (The only blemish on this stellar release is a postproduction error that has left the track readouts in disagreement with the booklet listings.) Camilo's disc benefits from a strong performance of the Concerto in F, well supported by Ernest Martinez Izquierdo and the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, who play this American music with flair. The Telarc team's dependable but less dramatic surround mix is pleasing. - Robert Ripps