South African group celebrates anniversary with American tour

By John Benson

To celebrate its 50th year together, South African a cappella act Ladysmith Black Mambazo is touring the United States, including a show Wednesday at the Akron Civic Theatre.

The nine-man act is supporting not only its 2009 Grammy Award-winning album “Ilembe” but also looking back at a critically acclaimed career and even forward to its future.

“What we’re bringing to Ohio is a celebration of Ladysmith Black Mambazo,” said original member Albert Mazibuko, calling from New Jersey. “So it’s a lot of enjoyment, and we are celebrating the great achievements in our set list. We also have new guys we’re grooming, and on stage we show off their wonderful talents. We don’t want this group to die.

“The fact that ‘Ilembe’ won a Grammy, it gave us great encouragement. That album allowed us to go back to our roots. We are so grateful. And now we’re going to look at our next album, which might be a collaboration but still don’t know with whom. We have a lot of material.”

Reflecting on Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s career, the vocal outfit has recorded with some of the biggest contemporary acts in the world. The list includes Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Dolly Parton, Melissa Etheridge, Sarah McLachlan and Josh Grobin. However, the door for national attention didn’t truly open until just over 20 years ago when Paul Simon pegged the South African act to perform on two songs (“Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes” and “Homeless”) from his 1986 Grammy Award-winning album “Graceland.”

Naturally, when Mazibuko thinks back to all of the high-profile collaborations Ladysmith Black Mambazo has undertaken, the experience with Simon rises above.

“I’ve enjoyed most of the collaborations, but when we recorded with Paul Simon for the first time, it was special,” said Mazibuko, whose cousin, Joseph Shabalala, founded the group. “It was the first time for us to collaborate with someone who sings a different type of music than we sing. So because we were with him and in the studio for the first time to record the songs, that collaboration stands out. And the 1987 tour was a very important era for Ladysmith Black Mambazo. We were introduced to the West. It was wonderful, and it came at the right time when our country was in turmoil with people fighting. So even the song, ‘Homeless,’ it fits so well in that situation.”

No matter how you characterize Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s music, Mazibuko says the act takes on a different feel in concert where singing and dancing create a cathartic or therapeutic environment.

“The spirit is being positive and seeing things clearly,” Mazibuko said. “We say that music clears the minds and makes us think straight and makes us sit down and look at the situation and find the solution. So it calms down our hearts and our minds and everything. It makes you see that it’s OK.”

He quickly added, “If there is something that is not good, from now on, our secret is that our music can fix it.”