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Story highlights
Ladysmith Black Mambazo was founded in Durban, South Africa in the 1960s
This men's choral group began to gain international recognition through their work with Paul Simon.
The group has been hailed by Nelson Mandela as “South Africa's cultural ambassadors”
This singing group is now passing on its traditions to the younger generation
CNN
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South African a cappella singing sensation Ladysmith Black Mambazo has been taking audiences on a musical journey with her soulful voice and traditional Zulu dance moves, blending vocal harmonies for almost half a century. I went.
This legendary male choral group has sold millions of albums around the world, collaborated with music icons such as Paul Simon, and counts Nelson Mandela among their loyal fans. The venerable Nobel Peace Prize laureate calls the group “South Africa's cultural ambassadors.”
It's a far cry from when Joseph Shabalala, a young farmer-turned-factory worker, formed the band in 1964, wanting to use music as a way to unite people in a country plagued by social division and conflict.
“Music is for the people. We have to bring this music to the people,” recalls Shabalala, one of the nine-piece group's two remaining original members.
Already successful in their home country, the band made an international breakthrough in 1986 when American singer and songwriter Paul Simon featured them on his album Graceland. Simon also took them on tour and produced the band's album Shaka Zulu, which won the 1988 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album.
Since then, Ladysmith Black Mambazo has won two more Grammy Awards and received a total of 16 nominations.
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But apart from years of touring success and international recognition, it was their relationship with Nelson Mandela that came to play a major role in the band's career.
The group first met South Africa's first black president at a birthday party in 1990, shortly after his release from prison after 27 years in prison.
“When we got on stage and sang a song, he got up and danced with us, shook my hand, and said good luck…Your music was a huge inspiration to me,” the member said. Albert Mazibuko, one of the Original member of the band. “From then on, he never tried to do anything without Ladysmith Black Mambazo. We spent time with him everywhere.”
In 1993, at Mr. Mandela's request, the group accompanied the future president to the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, Norway, and a year later sang for Mr. Mandela again at his inauguration. . In 2003, Mandela again recruited them as ambassadors for his global HIV/AIDS awareness campaign, 46664, which he named after his prison number.
Like an anti-apartheid symbol, the award-winning ensemble conveys a message of peace and hope in its music.
“Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s music is about inspiration,” says Mazibuko. “We encourage people not to lose hope in anything. We encourage people that there is a tomorrow, that there is something better ahead, and that every problem in the world has a solution. We try to give them hope that there is.”
Shabalala named the group after his hometown of Ladysmith, a farming village in the foothills of the Drakensberg Mountains. “Black'' refers to the strongest of all livestock, “cow,'' and “mambazo'' means “axe'' in Zulu. Refers to “cutting down” local competition.
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The roots of the group's music go back to the gold and diamond mines of South Africa, when black workers composed music and danced in labor camps. However, they had to dance softly “on their toes” so as not to disturb the white guards.
Shabalala's vision was to keep this rich musical tradition known as “ishikatamiya” alive by combining it with what he heard in church. His brothers and cousins joined him, and the a cappella band has been a family affair ever since. To this day, the Ladysmith Black Mambazo band is made up of friends and family members ranging in age from their 70s to their 70s, including Tshabalala's sons and cousins. For those in their 20s.
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Songs from a Zulu Farm, released in 2011, was also nominated for a Grammy Award for Best World Music Album. The band says this is their most personal work to date, featuring traditional Zulu songs that recreate the world they grew up in.
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Tshabalala and Mazibuko are now the only two original members remaining in the group, and the band's old guard is now passing on a message of hope and peace to the younger generation.
“Ladysmith Black Mambazo is a family. I have four sons in my group. They are the next generation of Mambazo. They are our future,” Shabalala announced while introducing his sons at a recent concert. did.
“My father is telling us this now: He wants us to continue with our music. He doesn't want to die with his music. This music isn't for him. , says it's for the people,'' says Shabalala's son. Tamsaka is expected to replace his father as the group's top singer.
For him and many others, the legend started by his father nearly half a century ago will remain powerful and timeless for generations.
