Ladysmith Black Mambazo - Full Performance (Live on KEXP)

Songs:
Nomathemba
Rain, Rain, Beautiful Rain
Homeless
Thalaza

Host: Darek Mazzone
Audio Engineer: Kevin Suggs
Cameras: Jim Beckmann, Scott Holpainen & Luke Knecht
Editor: Luke Knecht

Photo thumbnail by Chad Syme

[PlanttreesMS]

Their music doesn't age. It is as soothing today as it was in the late eighties. Their voices as gentle as soft rain. So beautiful. Thank you!

[marilynyarema]

Went to a live performance in Detroit with my best friend in the early 1990s. One or two members of the group went into the audience and pulled folks up on stage. I was one of the lucky chosen few to be brought up to sing with the group. It's one of the most special moments of my life. Now whenever I hear Ladysmith sing, I always say "I sang with those guys!" Love them.

[EchanelNews]

2025 I’m here for the most awarded group of Africa… I’m from Kinshasa congo sending my love and respect to our South African brothers 🇨🇩🇿🇦

[kummer]

Do you know what you are seeing here? Listen carefully, they will explain. It's called the future.
You are seeing the cradled of humanity, Africa.
You are seeing the mountains, the rivers and the clouds.
You are seeing the long rains and the flowers blossoming every single day.

Yes their story of more than 5, 000 years is recorded in their voices.

[The_Neon_Nubian]

The only voices that could calm my baby down through anything! When he was two, we saw them live in Detroit, he serenaded the whole audience and was hugging everyone😂 it was the best day ever. The love was so real … he’s 19 now🥳, and still loves them!!!❤❤❤

[kimberlycarter]

Mmmmm, the peace & Joy this beautiful music brings!

[bettiraige]

No matter what time of day or night, no matter where I am, my world stops when I hear their voices. I fall into a state of complete joy, and I hold my actions until the song has passed because all I want to do is rest in that sound like a blanket that wraps all around my soul.

[dillonbuck]

As a child in the 1990's my parents shared their music with me and decades later, it stays with me. All love. All respect. Beautiful!

[mdozaphotography]

0:18 Nomathemba
7:28 Rain, Rain, Beautiful Rain
13:14 Homeless
19:51 Thalaza - - best song

[dunjisaint]

God bless Africa, United we stand, my father use to play this wonderful songs before he was pass away, love from Nigeria...

[rachelbailie]

They are still strong and so beautiful to hear ...the voice of South Africa...unique and true.

[Ahmiseysoh]

The only instruments they use are their voices.Incredible harmonization. I'm always blown away by their music.

[scopex]

RIP Joseph Shabalala, my heart is broken, sing with the Angels dear Joseph. 😢😢😢

[maninscratch]

I'm a 38 year old white dude living in Germany.. I know & love the song "homeless - silale maweni " @ 13:15 since my childhood :)

[ntokozomavuso]

The only music I can listen to and have an internal conversation with my late dad!! Greatest gift my dad gave me.

[khanyincube]

These guys made me fall in love with the Zulus as a tribe I tell you. I’ll be seeing them perform in Philly next month! So excited

[cyntar]

PAUL SIMON AND LADYSMITH BLACK MAMBAZO. In 2014, Ladysmith Black Mambazo – led by founder and leader JOSEPH SHABALALA – celebrates over fifty years of joyous and uplifting music. Within this music are the intricate rhythms and harmonies of their native South African musical traditions. In those years, the a cappella vocal group has created a musical and spiritual spirit that has touched a worldwide audience. Their musical efforts over the past five decades have garnered praise and accolades from a wide body of people, organizations and countries.
 
Assembled in the early 1960s in South Africa by Joseph, then a young farmboy turned factory worker, the group took the name Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Ladysmith is the name of Joseph’s hometown, about three hours west of Durban and 3 hours east of Johannesburg; Black being a reference to the oxen, the strongest of all farm animals; and Mambazo being the Zulu word for chopping axe, 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 by the end of the 1960's they were banned from competitions, although they were welcome to participate as entertainers.
 
A radio broadcast in 1970 opened the door to their first record contract – the beginning of an ambitious discography that currently includes more than fifty recordings. Their philosophy in the studio was – and continues to be – just as much about preservation of musical heritage as it is about entertainment. The group borrows heavily from a traditional music called isicathamiya (is-cot-a-ME-Ya), which developed in the mines of South Africa, where black workers were taken by rail to work far away from their homes and their families. Poorly housed and paid worse, the mine workers would entertain themselves after a six-day week by singing songs into the wee hours on Sunday morning. When the miners returned to the homelands, this musical tradition returned with them.
 
During the 1970's and early 1980's Ladysmith Black Mambazo established themselves as the most succesful singing group in South Africa. In the mid-1980s, Paul Simon visited South Africa and incorporated the group's rich tenor/alto/bass harmonies into his famous "Graceland" album – a landmark recording that was considered seminal in introducing world music to mainstream audiences. A year later, Paul Simon produced Ladysmith Black Mambazo's first worldwide release, "Shaka Zulu", which won a Grammy Award in 1988 for Best Folk Recording. Since then, the group has been awarded two more Grammy Awards ("Raise Your Spirit Higher (2004) and "Ilembe (2009)") and has been nominated a total of fifteen times.
 
In addition to their work with Paul Simon, Ladysmith Black Mambazo has recorded with numerous artists from around the world, including Stevie Wonder, Dolly Parton, Sarah McLachlan, Josh Groban, Emmylou Harris, Melissa Etheridge, and many others. Their film work includes a featured appearance in Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker video and Spike Lee’s Do It A Cappella. They've provided soundtrack material for Disney’s The Lion King, Part II as well as Eddie Murphy’s Coming To America, Marlon Brando’s A Dry White Season, Sean Connery’s The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, James Earl Jones’ Cry The Beloved Country and Clint Eastwood's Invictus. A film documentary titled On Tip Toe: Gentle Steps to Freedom,  the story of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, was nominated for an Academy Award. They have appeared on Broadway and have been nominated for Tony Awards and have won a Drama Desk Award. In more recent popular culture they have been part of such shows as The Family Guy & the movie Mean Girls ("But you LOVE Ladysmith Black Mambazo").
 
In 2013 the group released "Live: Singing For Peace Around The World" which is a collection of songs recorded during their World Tours of 2011 and 2012. On December 6, 2013 it was announced that this cd was nominated by the Grammy Awards as Best World Music CD for 2013. The winner of the Grammy Award will be announced January 26, 2014.

[tainfobos]

I'm Congolese from Kinshasa and I love this group ♥️💝

[marcustraore]

Man, the legend is still alive. This is awesome! As a bass singer I can but only to acknowledge the greatness of the bass singers and of all the other singers. What an harmony! God bless Ladysmith black mambazo!

[ScottCaldwell]

Beauty as sound. We are all African and have just drifted far from home.