Grammy Award-winning group Ladysmith Black Mambazo are coming to Grahamstown. The musical stalwarts are headlining the 2011 Standard Bank Jazz Festival (SBJF), which takes place from 30 June to 9 July in Grahamstown, during the National Arts Festival.
Grammy Award-winning group Ladysmith Black Mambazo are coming to Grahamstown. The musical stalwarts are headlining the 2011 Standard Bank Jazz Festival (SBJF), which takes place from 30 June to 9 July in Grahamstown, during the National Arts Festival.
Currently on tour in North America, Britain and Europe, the nine-member Ladysmith Black Mambazo (LBM) is a living example of what it takes to earn the label "musical workhorse". After numerous changes in membership, varied collaborations with other musicians and covering many an iconic song in their five-decade existence, the core identity of the a capella group sill remains intact.
Judging by their knack for touring and extending their already-long catalogue, the group is as busy as ever. And yet with all the time that has passed since the group started out in 1960, their sound is still as rich in gold as the walls of a gold mine, and as earthy as a dusty gravel street in Soweto.
And these are two points of reference the group often use in their lyrics – the quintessential South African story of leaving home to work in the mines – it was there that their signature genre, isicathamya, originated – and township life.
The group was thrown into the international spotlight when they collaborated with American folk musician Paul Simon in his Graceland album – but their music has also always stood in its own right. If "art is meant to disturb and science to reassure", as French artist Georges Braque once declared, Ladysmith Black Mambazo are the exception to the rule.
If anything, Mambazo's soothing harmonies reassure the listener, yes, you're being taken care of; yes, relax, we'll sing for you; yes, forget your troubles and focus on this moment of happiness in which we're about to encircle you.
For instance, shocking art is often remembered because of its shocking qualities, whether it be a risque musical video, or blasphemous lyrics, or a controversial painting. Not Ladysmith Black Mambazo. The world this group paints is as courteous as natural growth. It offers lavish vistas of rural life, delivered with a cool demeanour and at an unhurried pace – even in times of multitasking and social networks.
Surviving artists from the same era, like Hugh Masekela and The Mahotella Queens, have either reworked their music to suit the new age, or exist on the margins of current South Africa music. But not these guys. They're old-school and gently proud of it.
The group was formed in 1960 by Joseph Shabalala, its main vocalist and the longstanding face of the group, who is currently a visiting professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Members have come and gone and current group members are Thamsanqa, Msizi, Thulani, and Sibongiseni (all Shabalala's sons); Albert Mazibuko and Abednego Mazibuko (Shabalala's cousins), Russel Mthembu and Ngane Dlamini (close friends).
Joseph Shabalala has said before that the group wants to bring "this gospel of loving one another" all over the world. "Without hearing the lyrics, this music gets into the blood, because it comes from the blood. It evokes enthusiasm and excitement, regardless of what you follow spiritually," Shabalala said. The group's current international tour is in celebration of its 50th anniversary.
They've won three Grammy awards – their first in 1998 for Best Traditional Folk Album. In total, the group has received 15 Grammy nominations.
Old gold and young stars
Overall this year's Standard Bank Jazz Festival promises to be a showcase of the young and old of South African jazz. Heavyweights include guitarist Selaelo Selota, tenor saxophonist Khaya Mahlangu and composer and producer Don Laka.
Established young artists include Bokani Dyer, this year's Standard Bank Young Artist for Jazz 2011 and vocalist Melanie Scholtz, last year's Young Artist. And, for good measure, hip-hop artist Tumi Molekane (of Tumi and the Volume) makes an appearance. Mambazo will close the event on 8 and 9 July.
