Ladysmith Black Mambazo is Shabalala’s living legacy
Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the African sound that has enjoyed the most success in the US, is performing a series of concerts in SA. The group has released 60 albums and has won five Grammy awards. It was founded by Joseph Shabalala, who says his love for Zulu music started at home when his mother was cooking. She would sing and the family would join in. His father worked on the mines and formed a singing group. In 1964 Shabalala was guided by a dream that persisted every night for six months. Children appeared to him singing and dancing sweetly. They coached him on how to blend voices and dance moves.
He recruited his cousins and brothers and formed a vocal group. It was named "Ladysmith" as a proclamation of his home; "black" in reference to the most powerful breed of oxen on the farm; and "Mambazo", meaning chopping axe, a crucial tool in rural areas. The music was a unique presentation of Zulu isicathamiya music, a form of a cappella singing with the cothoza choreographed tip...
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