![]() Then in April, Mambazo will sing, dance and act in a Washington, D.C. Meanwhile, this month sees the release of Thuthukani Ngoxolo (Let's Develop in Peace), the Grammy-winning group's 30th album-and its first post-apartheid recording. Its distinctive mbube style of vocals can now be heard in Broadway shows and on Hollywood soundtracks, in Sesame Street segments and on numerous TV commercials, including IBM's latest "Solutions for a Small Planet" computer ad.Īnd Mambazo's success has spawned a host of imitators, including Zimbabwe's Black Umfolosi, who recently played Toronto's Winter Garden Theatre. ![]() More than any other African music, Mambazo's sound has permeated the zeitgeist. So it's no surprise that tomorrow night's concert at North York's Ford Centre for the Performing Arts, has been sold out for months. And the 10-member group, looking like African Temptations in their colorful matching outfits, always offers a taste of its crowd-pleasing, tightly choreographed moves. Mambazo's concerts-a heavenly world where voices rumble like thunder one moment, and swoop and soar angelically the next-are hot tickets among those seeking sonic balm. Then a collection of traditional Zulu songs, Liph' Iqiniso, netted yet another Grammy nomination. The following year, they capitalized on their Sesame Street success and released the acclaimed children's recording, Gift of the Tortoise. Returning to the States, the group contributed music to the Broadway play The Song of Jacob Zulu and earned a Tony nomination and Drama Desk Award for Best Original Score. A triumphant South African tour with the pint-sized superstar, who Shabalala dubbed "Vulindela," meaning "he who has opened the gate," helped to turn things around. "I thought it was God's way of telling me that is was time for me to forget about singing."īut then Simon, acting like a sort of guardian angel, flew in to save the day. "It was a very distrubing time," he says. Shabalala, a devout Christian, remembers almost giving up music altogether. And, to rub salt in the family wound, Waraner dropped Mambazo from its roster shortly thereafter. It's been much that way ever since, save for one tragic instance in 1991, when Shabalala's brother Headman was shot and killed by a white security guard. And Mambazo quickly followed 1987's groundbreaking Graceland tour with a sold-out tour of its own. From the moment audiences first heard Mambazo's mellifluous sound, there was an instant connection. "I was so worried that people would be discouraged by our language." "It was a real culture shockk when we stepped onstage," admitted the modest, soft-spoken singer, during a tour stop outside Chicago. And Shabalala wasnt sure how audiences would respond to his group's Zulu material. The South African vocal ensemble had sung two songs with Simon on his critically acclaimed Graceland album, but those had been in English. Now that the turmoil of recent times has passed, Joseph Shabalala can look back fondly on those halcyon days nearly 10 years ago when his group, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, first joined Paul Simon on tour.
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