Ladysmith Black Mambazo

The Quick and Easy
Sound: Grammy Award winning South African Gospel
Album: Ilembe: Honoring Shaka Zulu
Label: Gallo Record Company (1973–present)
         Wrasse Records (1998–present)
         Heads Up International (2004–present)
Show: Moore Theatre-Wednesday, March 12th 8pm
Admiral Theatre (Bremerton)-Friday, March 14th 8pm
Why: They backed Paul Simon on Graceland
Website: www.ladysmithblackmambazo.com

The Band

For more than thirty years, Ladysmith Black Mambazo has married the intricate rhythms and harmonies of their native South African musical traditions to the sounds and sentiments of Christian gospel music. The result is a musical and spiritual alchemy that has touched a worldwide audience representing every corner of the religious, cultural and ethnic landscape. Their musical efforts over the past three decades have garnered praise and accolades within the recording industry, but also solidified their identity as a cultural force to be reckoned with.

Assembled in the early 1960s in South Africa by Joseph Shabalala – then a young farm boy turned factory worker – the group took the name Ladysmith Black Mambazo – Ladysmith being the name of Shabalala’s rural hometown; Black being a reference to oxen, the strongest of all farm animals; and Mambazo being the Zulu word for axe, a symbol of the group’s ability to “chop down” any singing rival who might challenge them. Their collective voices were so tight and their harmonies so polished that they were eventually banned from competitions – although they were welcome to participate strictly as entertainers.

In the mid-1980s, Paul Simon visited South Africa and incorporated Black Mambazo’s rich tenor/alto/bass harmonies into his Graceland album – a landmark 1986 recording that was considered seminal in introducing world music to mainstream audiences. A year later, Simon produced Black Mambazo’s first U.S. release, Shaka Zulu, which won a Grammy in 1988 for Best Traditional Folk Album. Since then, the group has scored eight more Grammy nominations.

In addition to their work with Paul Simon, Ladysmith Black Mambazo has recorded with numerous artists from around the world, including Stevie Wonder, Dolly Parton, The Wynans, Julia Fordham, George Clinton, The Corrs and Ben Harper. Black Mambazo provided soundtrack material for Disney’s The Lion King, Part II as well as Eddie Murphy’s Coming To America, Marlon Brando’s A Dry White Season, Sean Connery’s The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and James Earl Jones’ Cry The Beloved Country. A recent film documentary titled On Tip Toe: Gentle Steps to Freedom, the story of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, was nominated for an Academy Award.

Black Mambazo has been invited to perform at many special occasions. By special invitation from South African President Nelson Mandela, they performed for the Queen of England and the Royal Family at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The group has also performed at two Nobel Peace Prize Ceremonies, a concert for Pope John Paul II in Rome, the South African Presidential inaugurations, the 1996 Summer Olympics and many other special events. In the summer of 2002, Black Mambazo was again asked to represent their nation in London at a celebration for Queen Elizabeth’s 50th Anniversary as Monarch. They shared the stage with Paul McCartney, Rod Stewart, Eric Clapton, Joe Cocker and Phil Collins.

The group celebrated twelve years of democracy in the Republic of South Africa with the January 2006 release of Long Walk to Freedom, a collection of twelve new recordings of classic Mambazo songs with numerous special guests, including Melissa Etheridge, Emmylou Harris, Taj Mahal, Joe McBride, Sarah McLachlan, Natalie Merchant, and Zap Mama. Also appearing on this monumental recording are a number of South African international icons lending their support to the South African anthem “Shosholoza,” including Hugh Masekela, Vusi Mahlasela, Lucky Dube, Nokukhanya and others.

The New Album Ilembe: Honoring Shaka Zulu

Ladysmith Black Mambazo has conquered nations in its own way with a joyous and spiritually charged brand of vocal music and native choreography. There latest release pays tribute to this historical icon with their new release, Ilembe: Honoring Shaka Zulu.

The hushed, fairly unchanging disc suffers from one unmistakable flaw-- there's no real variety in the arrangements. From track to track little is changed in variation and tempo, which leads one to think they’re listening to an endless song.

For an album honoring a warrior, there was a lack of blood. The album needs more undulation, a song in the mix that makes you say “I liked this song over the one before”, for x reason. As it stands it’s rather static, although innovative and interesting use of a cappella. I was left looking for something to get me out my chair and dancing.

Album Theme

In the late 1700s, the Zulus were an obscure tribe of less than 2000 South African natives, ruled by a petty chief and seemingly doomed to eventual extinction. But when one charismatic and cunning young warrior, Shaka Zulu, emerged from this small, disorganized clan, the path of South African history changed forever. In a span of less than two decades, Shaka Zulu united the Zulus with various neighboring tribes into a single powerful force that helped give birth to a proud nation.

“He was a warrior, an athlete, a singer, a dancer, a visionary, he was so many things,” says Joseph Shabalala, lead singer and founder of Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

Today, Shaka Zulu is regarded as one of the greatest leaders in African history. His combination of warrior discipline, visionary leadership, innate creativity, and unshakable belief in a united nation continues to resonate to this day in South Africa. He is revered as the single figure who gave birth to the indomitable fighting spirit of the Zulus – the same spirit that enabled South Africans to persevere amid the European domination of their homeland for nearly two centuries of apartheid.

The album title translates to “The Greatest Warrior” and either directly or indirectly, each of the tracks speaks to Shaka’s rare combination of attributes and how they resonate in contemporary society – not just for South Africans, but for the world in general.