Ever since my first trip to South Africa in 2005 I've been interested in African music. I had heard of the grammy award-winning South African singing group, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, but have never been fortunate enough to hear them until last night. They were performing as a special event with the Grand Rapids Symphony - it was a great concert!
The group's name comes from their hometown of Ladysmith (near the large city of Durbin) in South Africa, black oxen which are the strongest farm oxen, and the Zulu word for ax - mambazo. The musical style is called Isicathamiya (Is-Cot-A-Me-Ya) and was begun by black workers in the mines during the days of apartheid. They were poor and kept away from their families; they sang to entertain themselves and eventually held singing competitions.
This group, begun by Joseph Shabalala in the late 1950s, won every singing competition they entered and now travel around the world, sharing the traditional culture of South Africa as well as hopes of peace and kindness for mankind.
1 comment:
Normally I prefer music written before 1750, but the first time I ever heard this group, a decade or two ago, they became an immedidate favorite!
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