Ladysmith Black Mambazo, London

Ladysmith Black Mambazo biography

Ladysmith Black Mambazo, formed by Joseph Shabalala (1941 – 2020) in 1960 in Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, is a South African male choral group that sings in the vocal styles of isicathamiya and mbube. They rose to worldwide prominence as a result of singing with Paul Simon on his 1986 album Graceland, and have won multiple awards, including four Grammy Awards. They have become one of South Africa's most prolific recording artists, with their releases receiving gold and platinum disc honors, and have come to represent the traditional culture of South Africa. They are regarded as South Africa's cultural emissaries at home and around the world. They are a national treasure of the new South Africa in part because they embody the traditions suppressed in the old South Africa. Recorded between 1981 and 1984, THE INDESTRUCTIBLE BEAT OF SOWETO is the first (and arguably the best) of a slew of South African pop recordings that soon followed. Characterized by insistent, rhythmically complex beats, elastic, burbling basslines, tight, ska-sounding guitar accompaniment, and thick, multi-part vocals, this music is as intriguing as it is appealing. Groups with such names as Udokotela Shange Namajaha and Amaswazi Emvelo serve up bright, infectious melodies and percussively insistent tracks that are clearly intended for dancing.

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