His saw the way his mother, father, aunts and uncles drew upon it while plowing and cultivating their farmland in the hot summer sun.

"Every time the job started to get tough they started singing," he says. "Then they have more power and can work until sunset."

Mazibuko, now 56, says the music of Grammy-winning a cappella group Ladysmith Black Mambazo has given him power — power to spread his native culture around the world and to spread a message of positivity through the universal appeal of the sound of the human voice.

The group, which performs Wednesday at Hammons Hall, won its second Grammy Award last week for its uplifting CD "Raise Your Spirit Higher."

"We called this CD 'Raise Your Spirit Higher' to ask people to be the best person they could be during these difficult times," founder Joseph Shabalala said in acceptance. "It is easy to be a good person when things are happy. However, what type of person are you when things are not so good? ... These are the times when we need to be better."

Ladysmith's albums have been nominated eight times since Paul Simon introduced the group to the world on his 1986 album "Graceland."

"An award like this shows that what we are doing, we should not take it lightly," Mazibuko says.

"We have to go for it, to do more."

Ladysmith Black Mambazo members take seriously their role as representatives of South Africa. The group formed more than 40 years ago, and in the past 20, its members have become visible and audible cultural ambassadors.

In 1993, at Nelson Mandela's request, the group accompanied the future president to perform at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, Norway. It has sung for everyone from Queen Elizabeth II to school children around the world.

"(They) are wonderful musicians and wonderful citizens of the world," says Deb Gallion, marketing director at the Hall.

The group performed at the Hall once before, and Gallion says the warmth of the singers' personalities made the show memorable.

"We were very taken with how warm and family-friendly and what a terrific concert it was from a personable standpoint," she says. "In addition to the gorgeous music ... the feeling of goodwill in the room was wonderful."

The songs on "Raise Your Spirits Higher" were mostly written in response to hard times, both personal (the murder of Shabalala's wife) and public (the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001).

Ladysmith Black Mambazo sings a traditional South African style of music called Isicathamiya (Is-Cot-A-Me-Ya), which means "to tiptoe." Most of the songs are sung in Zulu but some are in English. All the better to get across the group's musical message of unity.

"If people come together, put aside their differences and sit down together, our world will be a peaceful world," Mazibuko says.

-Michael A. Brothers