Ladysmith Black Mambazo is the group being spotlighted today.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo is a male choral group from South buy viagra connect near me Africa that sings in the vocal styles of isicathamiya and mbube. They rose to worldwide prominence as a result of singing with Paul Simon on his album, Graceland, and have won multiple awards, including three Grammy Awards. They were formed by Joseph Shabalala in 1960 and later became one of South Africa’s most prolific recording artists, with their releases receiving gold and platinum disc honors. The group has now become a mobile academy, teaching people about South Africa and its culture.
The first incarnation of Ladysmith Black Mambazo was “Ezimnyama” (“The Black Ones”), formed by Shabalala in December 1960. The members of the group were relatives (mostly brothers and cousins) of Shabalala, with many having sung with him while he was growing up on the farm where he was born. Although the group did sing well together and captured the sound of cothoza mfana (tip toe boys, a 1960s slang term for isicathamiya) and mbube groups of the time, they were unknown outside of the Ladysmith district.
Mbube Wimoweh
In 1964, Shabalala had a series of recurring dreams during his sleep, over a period of six months, featuring a choir singing in perfect harmony. Shabalala described this as a beautiful sound, and one not yet achieved by his group of the time. As a result, he reformed the group, bringing on board newer (younger) relatives but keeping the group name. He strived to teach them the harmonies from his dreams, creating what was to become a signature tune for the group: “Nomathemba” (a girl’s name – meaning “hope”). After deciding that this group well replicated the beautiful, soft sounds from his dreams, Shabalala entered the group into isicathamiya competitions(isicathamiya being the traditional music of the Zulu people), held on Saturday nights in the halls of hostels in Durban and Johannesburg. The group managed to win nearly every competition that was held. The group was described as ‘so good’ that they were eventually forbidden to enter the competitions, but welcomed to entertain at them. As a result, Shabalala decided to change the name of the group to be more descriptive of its talent. The name “Ezimnyama” was replaced by “Ladysmith Black Mambazo”. The three elements of the new name were: the hometown of Shabalala’s family, Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal; the black ox, considered to be the strongest farm animal; and mambazo, which means axe in the Zulu language, and is symbolic of the choir’s ability to “chop down” the competition.
In 1967, the group began to make recordings for the SABC station Radio Zulu, appearing in DJ Alexius Buthelezi’s popular Cothoza Mfana programme which spotlighted the music of several local choirs. Their success was so great that music producers began enticing the group to sign a recording contract. In 1972 the group signed with Gallo Record Company under producer West Nkosi at the organization’s African music division, Mavuthela Music Company (Nkosi was also well known in South Africa as a saxophone jive star). Ladysmith Black Mambazo released their first album the following year, Amabutho, which received gold status and was the first album by a black musician or group in South Africa to do so. Their subsequent albums also received gold or platinum certification. With the release of their second album, they had become professional singers.
Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes
In 1985, Paul Simon traveled to South Africa in the hope of collaborating with African musicians for his Graceland album. Simon contacted Shabalala and conversed with him in person – after much discussion and excitement, the group traveled to London to record with Simon. The first recording was “Homeless” – the music and chorus were composed by Simon, with Shabalala composing the Zulu introduction and main (non-English) body of the song. Graceland was released in late 1986, and although both Joseph Shabalala and Paul Simon were accused of breaking the cultural boycott of South Africa, the album became a huge success and sold 16 million copiesand further boosted Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s international image. This also paved the way for other African acts such as Stimela and Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens to gain popularity amongst Western audiences.
After Graceland, Simon acted as producer for their first album for US Release on Warner Brothers Records Shaka Zulu (1987). Two more records were recorded for Warner Brothers Records in the US Journey of Dreams (1988) and Two Worlds, One Heart (1990). On the latter album, the group recorded with The Winans, Julia Fordham and George Clinton among other then-popular artists. Shaka Zulu was nominated (and won) in the category of Best Traditional Folk Recording in the Grammy Awards 1988.
In 1988, Ladysmith Black Mambazo appeared in Michael Jackson’s movie Moonwalker, where they performed “The Moon Is Walking” (an abridged version of the song “Lindelani”, which appears on Journey of Dreams) over the end credits. Ladysmith Black Mambazo was also featured in the Sesame Street song “Put Down The Duckie”.
In 1988, Ladysmith Black Mambazo sang an arrangement of “Mbube” during the opening sequence of the movie Coming to America, but the song was not released on the soundtrack.
On 10 December 1991, Shabalala’s brother and one of the bass members in the group, Headman Shabalala, was shot and killed by Sean Nicholas, a white off-duty security guard. Paul Simon, who believed the killing to be racially motivated, led the court proceedings against Nicholas. Joseph Shabalala stopped singing. Eventually, aided by his Christian beliefs, he returned to singing. Following the retirement of three more members in 1993, Shabalala recruited four of his sons into the group.
The Apartheid system was abolished in 1994. The release of Nelson Mandela after 27 years imprisonment brought a celebratory album release – 1993’s Liph’ Iqiniso. The album’s last track, “Isikifil’ Inkululeko” (“Freedom Has Arrived”), was a celebration of the end of Apartheid.
According to Shabalala, Nelson Mandela (shortly after his release from prison) publicly stated that the members of Ladysmith Black Mambazo were “South Africa’s cultural ambassadors”. Ladysmith Black Mambazo accompanied the future President of South Africa to the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, Norway at the request of Nelson Mandela, in 1993. Mambazo sang again at President Mandela’s inauguration in May 1994, and then later at his birthday celebrations.
Founder, director, composer, and lead singer Joseph Shabalala finally retired from his group on January 23, 2008.