When Ladysmith Black Mambazo took the stage at the Center for the Arts on Wednesday night, not many people knew what to expect. Most attendees were familiar with the South African group's work as featured artists on Paul Simon's "Graceland" album, while others had more knowledge of their history as important pontificators of African music.
What transpired in the hour and half while the lights were low provided an amazing show for any taste.
The show began with a short opening act featuring two other South Africans, Fourteen Shabalala and Shongshilo. The instruments of guitar and concertina provided an adequate base for singing and dancing. Shabalala, on guitar, sang with great range, skipping from bass thumping melodies to riveting harmonies. He also had a talent for producing bird chirps to accentuate the rural life out of the South African shantytowns.
The 10 members of Ladysmith then took the stage in front of a giant mural portraying South Africa. Words and phrases like "peace," "end racism" and "free Mandela" were highlighted with colorful depictions of social life. The theme of the evening was clearly hope, love and independence.
The first song, a religious hymn about finding joy in the afterlife, started out somber but slowly picked up as the synergy of voices concluded with a joyous "hallelujah." Joseph Shabalala, the lead voice and starter of Ladysmith (no relation to Fourteen Shabalala), stood ahead and unified all the voices. The line of the other nine singers created both high and low, and the group is at their best when each sound cannot be pegged to an individual.
As the night progressed, each song was either a Zulu dance hymn or a wedding song. The wedding songs praised beauty, with the performers creating sensual calls of desire to entice women to "come over and kiss" them. It would be hard for any woman to resist such a call, especially delivered from such appealing suitors, yet the pleasure was only shown with raucous applause.
The vocal agility of the group was matched by their physical agility, which often took center stage during the numbers modeled after Zulu dance songs. Each member was allowed to come to the front and center and give a little show. Most of the dances were elegant kicks to the sky or ritual shaking. The dancing also allowed for impressive body percussion that melded perfectly with the voices. Never once did the melody stop, even if just three or four singers were holding it.
Ladysmith made it very clear that they were on stage having fun doing what they love doing. All the group's members are talented singers and entertainers, but what separates them is their attitude. On stage, they joke around and sing with joy. They make themselves happy, which in turn resonates throughout the crowd.
During the dance number, it was a shame that the audience remained seated. With the clapping and short call-in response session, it was obvious that everyone was interested, and the dance songs were purveyed with such excellence that anyone present who didn't want to get up and dance must not have had a pulse.
At the end of the evening, the theme of peace, love and harmony was echoed. The closing song went along with those concepts as well as the desire to praise beauty in all its forms. While they sang about the beauty of women and South Africa, every member of the audience was able to hear beauty expressed vocally.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
