Decked out in dark blue and black garments, Ladysmith Black Mambazo dazzled the Greencastle community in Kresge Auditorium on Sunday with their quick hand movements and high leg kicks, while their rich harmonies resounded throughout the Green Center.
It is the harmonies that have separated the South African vocalist group from the rest of the music world. However, achieving their sound is more complex than it appears.
“It’s called lock and ring,” said Craig Pare, professor of music and director of the University band. “They lock into that one note and create a ring of sound, a beautiful harmony, that’s really in tune.”
Pare thought the group’s ability to combine their individual talents was even more impressive.
“They do [lock and ring] throughout all of their music, whether they’re all singing in unison, or whether they’re singing chords together,” Pare said. “It’s like one body making all these sounds, and that’s what’s so fascinating about them.”
The group performed a number of songs from their newest album, “Walking in the Footsteps of Our Fathers,” which was nominated for “Best World Music Album” at this year’s Grammy Awards.
“‘Walking in the Footsteps of Our Fathers’ is a celebration of the group’s past, present, and future,” said vocalist Sibongiseni Shabalala on Sunday during the performance. “The members of the group say, ‘We want to honor the many people from the past…for paving the way and leaving their footsteps for [us] to follow.’”
The group formed out of Ladysmith, South Africa in 1964 by Joseph Shabalala, who originally put forth the desire to “keep South Africa alive in people’s hearts.”
Ladysmith’s three-part name signifies multiple things: “Ladysmith” to honor their hometown, “Black” to represent the black oxen, the strongest farm animal, and “Mambazo”, signifying “chopping axe” in Zulu, the most widely-spoken language in South Africa.
The latter part of the group’s name was used as incentive to “chop down” any competition that stood in their way, a promise the group followed through on from the start.
After winning countless contests within their community, Ladysmith was banned from competing at the end of the 1960s and the group members were only allowed to perform as guest artists.
Over 50 years later, they’ve received 17 Grammy nominations, collaborated with American vocalist Paul Simon and are performing around the world with no signs of slowing down. Many of the current Ladysmith performers are sons of former members of the group who performed with Simon in the 1980s.
“I didn’t know anything about Ladysmith until Paul Simon put them on ‘Graceland’,” Pare said. “When that came out, it was a very different sound, and I had not known that group before. So I’ve kind of followed them… They’ve always been on my radar as an a capella group like that.”
While many DePauw students were introduced to the South African group on Sunday, Ladysmith Black Mambazo already had a fanbase of its own heading into Greencastle.
“It just was so uplifting,” said senior Monica Valadez, who appreciated their collaborations with Paul Simon. “They were just really into it, and… I feel that they had a really good message.”
Valadez was one of many to stayed after the concert to meet the performers in person. “I had been to Durban, so I was like, ‘here was the part that I miss so much’”, said Valadez, who had spent her fall semester in South Africa. “They reminded me so much of the guys [I had met] in South Africa.”