Beautiful songs of peace, love and harmony combined with traditional Zulu dancing will allow Pittsburgers to experience beautiful South Africa when Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the Grammy Award winning A Cappella group graces Pittsburgh’s Byham Theater stage, January 29, as part of it’s 2014 “Always With Us” U.S. Tour.
The group will be performing in the Steel City as part of the Cohen & Grigsby Trust Presents series, presented by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo was assembled in the early 1960’s in South Africa by a young farm boy-turned factory worker, Joseph Shabalala. The group’s unique name is a combination of Shabalala hometown, Black refers to oxen, the strongest of all farm animals in the Motherland and Mambazo is the Zulu word for axe, a symbol of the group’s uncanny ability to “chop down” any singing rival who might challenge them.
The group has recorded with numerous artists including Stevie Wonder, Emmylou Harris, Melissa Etheridge and Paul Simon who made the group a household-name and introduced the world to the group’s infectious music on his “Graceland” album.
“Working with Paul Simon was amazing for us,” said Albert Mazibuko, a five-decade Ladysmith Black Mambazo member and cousin of Shabalala. “It opened the gates of the whole world for us. Suddenly millions and millions of people knew who we were and they wanted to hear us sing and see us perform. So amazing!
“It has been almost 30 years since then and we continue to travel the world on concert tours,” Mazibuko continued. “People are still coming to our shows and buying our CD’s. It has been so incredible! Of course it has led us to work with many other people that has introduced our music to many more fans.”
Ladysmith Black Mambazo is currently celebrating more than 50 years of performing joyful and uplifting music while combining intricate rhythms and harmonies of their homeland. The group has performed at numerous special events including two Nobel Peace Prize Ceremonies, a concert for Pope John Paul II in Rome, the South African Presidential inaugurations, the 1996 Olympics and in 2002 the group performed at London’s celebration for Queen Elizabeth’s 50th anniversary as Monarch.
“Our music is something different and perhaps we continue to keep it fresh and interesting. It’s the voice of South Africa, a voice from Africa and people want to hear that voice,”Mazibuko said. “We hope people will come to our concert to hear our beautiful South African songs and see our traditional Zulu dancing. We promise an evening of great things.”
The current members of Ladysmith Black Mambazo are:Shabalala, Mazibuko, Mazibuko’s brother Abednego Mazibuko (member since 1974) lifelong family friend Russel Mthembu (member since 1975), after “Graceland” some of the members of the group retired and in 1993 Joseph replaced those members with four of his sons: Msizi Shabalala, Thulani Shabalala, Sibongiseni Shabalala and Thamsanqa Shabalala. Now Joseph’s first grandson, Babuyile Shabalala ,is a part of the group.
“We are one big family! The membership stays very solid. This helps us stay strong,” Mazibuko said.
While singing groups come and go, Ladysmith Black Mambazo has continued to stay strong in its convictions and to the happy music that it so lovingly creates. Mazibuko says that longevity comes from the group’s commitment to its message of peace, love and harmony.
“We don’t allow ourselves to get lazy about what needs to be done to keep our mission going. When we first worked with Paul Simon and went on our own concert tours, everything was handled in a very professional and serious way,” Mazibuko said. “I don’t think people know how many musicians and music groups get destroyed because of a lack of professionalism. We learned to be very serious towards our work.
“When people they want to see us in concert and listen to our CD’s, it makes us work extra hard so they won’t be disappointed. We want people to come to our shows and leave feeling they’ve experienced something wonderful. Then they can tell their friends about us and our music can continue on and on,” Mazibuko added.
In 2013, a collection of live recordings “Ladysmith Black Mambazo Singing for Peace Live Around the World” has been nominated for a Best World Music Grammy Award. The record is dedicated to the late Nelson Mandela and his mission of peace.
“It was a blessing to have Mandela with us as long as we did. He was the leader in bringing us freedom. He sacrificed much of his life for his nation. We will never forget all that he did. Hopefully his message will continue for centuries to inspire people to greatness,” Mazibuko said. “I think our singing helped put a face and name to the people struggling with apartheid. All of the people who became well known from “Graceland” or other things it helped people know better who we all were. We would meet people who would say ‘We must fight to end this so you can live in freedom.’ They were speaking to us as individuals and they wanted us, as individual people, to have the freedoms everyone should have.”
Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s latest effort, “Ladysmith Black Mambazo Always With Us,” which was released earlier this month, pays homage to the late Nellie Shabalala, the group “mother” and wife of the group’s founder and leader. This recording blends the group’s voices with the vocals of Nellie and her church choir. It is Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s in their more than 40-year recording history to feature Zulu singers performing traditional songs.
“The CD is different than anything we’ve ever done. Joseph’s wife was very important to our whole group. Mother, wife, sister-in-law and cousin to everyone. She was the person who kept our families strong while we were away from home. She was a very wonderful person. She ran Joseph’s church while he was gone,” Mazibuko said. “She had her own church group and they recorded some songs in 2000. When she died in 2002, she left a hole in our group.
“We wanted to honor her in some way and finally we found that we could take her recorded songs and we could sing on them. We went into a recording studio and sang right on her songs to create new songs with her being our lead singer. We never had a woman lead singer so the sound was very fresh and beautiful. Now when we listen to the CD, we hear Nellie all the time. It’s magical what music can do for you,” Mazibuko continued.
Mazibuko said the message of “Ladysmith Black Mambazo Always With Us” is to never forget those who have gone and remain important in our lives.
“People effect all of us and when they are gone we should keep their memories and lives close to us to help us when we need that help,” Mazibuko said. “Nellie helps us to this day and we love to honor her life. When you hear Nellie singing you can hear such joy, such love. She shared this love with us while she lived and she continues to share her love even though she is gone.”
Following their performance in Pittsburgh–7:30 p.m. at the Byham Theater on January 29—Ladysmith Black Mambazo will be heading to Ithaca, New York’s state theater before heading to Philadelphia.
Tickets for the Pittsburgh performance start at $24 and can be purchased by visiting www.TrustArts.org or call 412-456-6666.
