|
|
 |
Concert preview
|
| Click Here to go back. |
St. Louis Post Dispatch, Concert preview >>
South African a cappella group's harmonies fit in around the world
By JIM BEAL JR.
When you listen to the joyous harmonies of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, you get the idea that no one in the 10-member a cappella group has a care in the world.
But the beautiful music springs from hardscrabble work and indisputable oppression.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo hails from Ladysmith Township in South Africa. The music, called isicathamiya, was developed by South African miners who were hauled far from their homes to do some serious labor. On Sunday mornings, the workers would gather, sing and attempt to put the work out of their minds for a few hours.
In the mid-'50s, Joseph Shabalala started getting serious about singing. He didn't do too well. In 1964, Shabalala heard harmony singing in a dream and recruited members of his family, brothers and cousins, to help make that dream come true.
"It was hard, but I started to know it's my gift from God to spread this music, to teach this music and to carry on," Shabalala says from a tour stop in Portland, Ore.
Though Ladysmith Black Mambazo started recording in the early '70s, the group got a huge boost in the mid-'80s when Paul Simon enlisted the troupe's aid in recording his "Graceland" album.
As South Africa underwent political and social changes, Ladysmith Black Mambazo became musical ambassadors. The group has tirelessly toured the world, released dozens of albums and collaborated with an array of artists that includes Ben Harper and Dolly Parton. The group's Lifesaver TV commercial spread the group's sound further still.
"The music comes from the blood to the blood," Shabalala says. "This harmony - I was not shy to sing. It's in myself. It was a beautiful harmony I translated to my language. Anyone can translate it to his language and culture. It stimulates the mind. It makes you love your parents. It revives history. History is not just for Joseph Shabalala."
Most of the group's repertoire features original songs.
"To me, they're new songs, but sometimes we remind people about traditional songs," Shabalala said. "That's why people enjoy our music. We're giving them our thoughts."
Collaborations with other artists have come easily for the group.
"So far they have given us the freedom because they want the harmony," Shabalala says with a laugh. "They'll tell me, 'Just put Ladysmith Black Mambazo there.'"
Ladysmith Black Mambazo recorded "Peace Train" and "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" with Dolly Parton.
"It was respect for one another to come together and let the sound go," Shabalala says. "Paul Simon did a good thing to open the gates. We did 25 albums before Paul Simon. White people would come see us in South Africa, but they would hide, they were afraid to be seen.
"Music bridged the gap, especially when Paul Simon came to South Africa. In those days things were very difficult. South African people asked what he was doing. They were thinking this man was going to destroy the sound. I said, 'No, he's going to carry it on.'"
South Africa is still not the Garden of Eden.
"Change is there," Shabalala says. "The economy is going down, and people always complain. It's now up to somebody to work very hard for himself. And there are still politics, and politics is politics, but there aren't too many riots. This disease, this HIV, is very bad. But now people are starting to know about it, and maybe it's a little better. But we survive because of our friends, our neighbors and friends around the world."
And Ladysmith Black Mambazo continues to communicate a message of peace, love, harmony and hope.
"You have to respect yourself. You have to share with your neighbor," Shabalala adds. "We encourage people. We give them a chance to not be ashamed of who they are. Blacks, white, Indians - we are all brothers and sisters, and we need one another."
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
When: 7:30 p.m. Sunday
Where: Sheldon Concert Hall, 3648 Washington Boulevard
How much: $30-$35
More info: 314-534-1111 or www.metrotix.com
02/11/04
|
| Click Here to go back. |
|
 |
|
|
|
