Jan. 12, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: LISA WOSKE
(805) 756-7110
Ladysmith Black Mambazo Returns to Cohan Center Feb. 9
SAN LUIS OBISPO -- No group is more closely identified with
African song than Ladysmith Black Mambazo. On Wednesday, February
9,
2005 at 8 p.m. in the Cohan Center, Cal Poly Arts brings back Ladysmith
Black Mambazo in “Long Walk to Freedom,” featuring music
from their
just-released CD, “No Boundaries.”
Special guest tenor Vusi Mahlasela brings his unique sound to the
group.
After one of Mahlasela's performance, Nobel Prize winner Nadine
Gordimer
declared, “Vusi Mahlasela sings as a bird does: in total response
to
being alive.”
Ladysmith Black Mambazo is a 10-member Zulu a cappella group that
came
to international fame in 1986 accompanying Paul Simon on his landmark
"Graceland" album. Since that release, the group has gained
a worldwide
audience and critical acclaim.
“Ladysmith Black Mambazo…imbued its music with a haunting,
ethereal,
dreamlike quality. Its seven bass voices and...its three tenors
sang
such close harmonies with such subtle nuances that they sounded
like one
deep, rich, resonant and proud voice. “ (NY Times)
The Los Angeles Times agreed: “Black Mambazo's team of bass
voices
turned into a mighty engine, driving the group through chugging
cadences
that were repeated at length, carrying a clapping, foot-tapping
audience
along.”
For more than thirty years, Ladysmith Black Mambazo has blended
the
intricate rhythms and harmonies of their native South African musical
traditions to the sounds and sentiments of Christian gospel music.
The
result is a musical and spiritual sound that is said to represent
every
corner of the religious, cultural and ethnic landscape.
Assembled in the early 1960s in South Africa by Joseph Shabalala,
the
group took the name Ladysmith Black Mambazo: “Ladysmith”
being the name
of Shabalala’s rural hometown; “Black” being a
reference to oxen, the
strongest of all farm animals; and “Mambazo,” the Zulu
word for ax -- a
symbol of the group’s ability to chop down any singing rival
who might
challenge them.
Their collective voices were so tight and their harmonies so polished
that they were eventually banned from competitions – although
they were
welcome to participate strictly as entertainers.
Shabalala says his conversion to Christianity in the ‘60s
helped define
the group’s musical identity, with a mission “to bring
(a) gospel of
loving one another all over the world…(But) this music gets
into the
blood, because it comes from the blood…It evokes enthusiasm
and
excitement, regardless of what you follow spiritually.”
The group’s philosophy is as much about preservation of African
musical
heritage as it is about entertainment. When Paul Simon visited South
Africa and incorporated Black Mambazo’s rich tenor/alto/bass
harmonies
into his “Graceland” album, it was a landmark recording
key to
introducing the genre of world music to mainstream audiences.
A year later, Simon produced Black Mambazo’s first U.S. release,
“Shaka
Zulu,” which won a Grammy in 1987 for Best Traditional Folk
Album. Since
then, the group has scored six more Grammy nominations, most recently
for their 1999 album, “Live from Royal Albert Hall.”
In addition to their work with Simon, Black Mambazo has recorded
with
numerous artists, including Stevie Wonder, Dolly Parton, The Wynans,
Julia Fordham, George Clinton, The Corrs and Ben Harper.
Their film work includes a featured appearance in Michael Jackson’s
“Moonwalker” video and Spike Lee’s “Do It
A Cappella.” Black Mambazo
provided soundtrack material for Sean Connery’s “The
League of
Extraordinary Gentlemen,” Disney’s “The Lion King,
Part II,” Eddie
Murphy’s “Coming To America,” Marlon Brando’s
“A Dry White Season,” and
James Earl Jones’ “Cry The Beloved Country.”
A recent film documentary, “On Tip Toe: Gentle Steps to Freedom“
-- the
story of Ladysmith Black Mambazo -- was nominated for an Academy
Award.
Black Mambazo has been invited to perform at many special occasions,
including two galas for the Queen of England and the Royal Family,
two
Nobel Peace Prize Ceremonies, a concert for the Pope in Rome, the
South
African Presidential inaugurations, and the 1996 Summer Olympics.
January’s release of “No Boundaries” is a classical
crossover recording
with The English Chamber Orchestra, a unique project pairing their
"isicathamiya" (a Zulu word meaning “to tiptoe”)
singing with the likes
of Mozart, Schubert, and Bach.
“Our tradition is meant to be spread around the world,”
says Shabalala.
“Ladysmith Black Mambazo is a mobile academy that teaches
the world
about Zulu people and culture, about South Africa and all that is
wonderful here.
“So when people came to me and said, ‘Hey, maybe you
can sing with a
full orchestra who play classical music,’ I said ‘Why
not?’ After all,
our singing is a sort of Zulu classical singing.”
The CD alternates between classic Mambazo pieces and classical
masterpieces, such as an orchestrated rendition of Paul Simon’s
“Homeless” and an Africanized version of Bach’s
“Jesu, Joy Of Man’s
Desiring.”
Highlights also include a striking interpretation of “Amazing
Grace” and
the closing Zulu lullaby “Walil’ Umtwana (The Child
Is Crying).”
Tickets for the performance range from $26 - $38, with student
discounts
available, and may be purchased at the Performing Arts Ticket Office,
10
a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays. To order
by
phone, call 805/756-2787; to order by fax: 805/756-6088. Order on-line
at www.pacslo.org.
Sponsored by KCBX 90.1 FM and MED+STOP Urgent Care Center.
For audio and video samples of Cal Poly Arts events, visit
www.calpolyarts.org.
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