Ladysmith Black Mambazo

Last Friday Daniel and I went with my parents to see Ladysmith Black Mambazo at the Strathmore Music Center. The legendary South African a capella group has been around for 5o years. They have sung for commercials, inaugurations, Nobel Peace Prize ceremonies and won Grammies. Most Americans know them by the work they completed with Paul Simon on his 1986 album Graceland. (In this old video they are the men in the orange shirts and Hugh Masekela is on the Trumpet.) Unlike the traditional ISICATHAMIYA (Is-Cot-A-Me-Ya) music the group sings when they are alone, Paul Simon incorporated their singing into his music and adopted a different yet truly South African sound--that of with township Jazz--for the album.

The traditional music sung by Ladysmith Black Mambazo is called ISICATHAMIYA (Is-Cot-A-Me-Ya) and Africans would sing it while working in the mines. Group founder, Joseph Shabalala, is now almost 80 years old but has 4 sons and a few other memorable characters in his group to continue his singing legacy. The dancing they do is traditional tribal dancing that men perform to prove their strength.

They invited everyone to attend the World Cup in Cape Town in June under the condition that they come to support the South African team. Someone at Daniel's work convinced him to wear his African shirt (I do not have such power over him) and I wore an African head dress which my grandfather's nurse, Debbie, taught me how to tie. Yes, I am an African American. The Africans in the crowed cheered and whistled. Overall, a joyful and vibrant time was had by all!

Daniel now wants a South African passport in addition to the Portuguese passport we plan on getting him. Of course this going to require moving through various bearaucratic channels, which we do not look forward to.

This is the quiet song they opened with. At some point in his carer Shabalala converted to Christianity, so you may hear Christian lyrics in their music (when they sing in English). Youtube won't let me post videos longer than 10 minutes. I'm going to try Vimeo.