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Ladysmith Black Mambazo gives voice to hope and democracy in Africa
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The Arizona Republic, Ladysmith Black Mambazo gives voice to hope and democracy in Africa >>
Ladysmith Black Mambazo's one-night show next Sunday in Scottsdale will resonate with the age-old message of hope, for individuals and the world.
With the sound that singer-composer Paul Simon brought to our attention on his Graceland album and 1987 tour, the all-male a cappella choral group will sing of possibilities.
Consider the group's native South Africa, which is "doing very well," said Albert Mazibuko, one of the original members of Durban-based Ladysmith Black Mambazo.
"We have challenges - poverty, AIDS, crime," Mazibuko said from a tour stop in Dayton, Ohio. "But democracy reigns in South Africa."
Ladysmith is among the living symbols of today's South Africa, a group formed in the early 1960s by Joseph Shabalala and once acclaimed mostly in their local township for singing isicathamiya, the traditional harmonic music of their Zulu people.
Then the group, which named itself after its hometown of Ladysmith, became popular worldwide through its association with Simon.
"He opened big doors for us," said Mazibuko, one of two remaining founding members of the nine-man group.
Ladysmith, which has traveled across the United States many times in the past 20 years, returns to the Valley for one show. Much of that show will feature cuts from their new self-titled album, dedicated to the legendary Zulu warrior Shaka Zulu. In the late 18th century and early 19th century, he was credited with uniting disparate people in Africa into the Zulu nation. The CD's subtitle is Illembe: Honoring Shaka Zulu.
Shaka accomplished unification as much with diplomacy as with force, Mazibuko said, by going home to home to talk with people, persuading them there was power in cooperation.
Songs on the CD, mostly written by Shabalala, tell not just about the warrior's accomplishments but also politics, love and spirituality. And it's not just for the people of South Africa, where the singers once made their living traveling from township to township.
"We are singing for everybody all over the world," Mazibuko said. "Everybody finds something to relate to in their life. The message is to strive for perfection, to do the best whatever you do. Find what you are good at and do that."
Shabalala wanted to convey the notion of bravery and perseverance. And in dedicating the work to Shaka, Mazibuko said, "We wanted to remind ourselves to be courageous."
South African children learn about the warrior in school, he said, and use him as inspiration in their own lives.
"We use that story to accomplish what we can accomplish," Mazibuko said. "What he did seems impossible."
Today, he believes, as Africa is again beset by fighting, Shaka's goal would be to unite that continent into one country.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo does its part, acting as ambassadors for South Africa, spreading their culture through song. They open doors for younger musicians joining the group, telling young artists they must be warriors like Shaka.
And they don't forget their old friend Simon, interrupting their tour last May to perform with him in Washington, D.C.
Mazibuko said the group is eager to return to Scottsdale, where past concerts have been popular.
"Tell the people I have a special song I'll be singing for them," he said.
-- by Barbara Yost 02/17/08 >> go there
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