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Friday, December 19

Intimately Yours: Ladysmith Black Mambazo

For more than 40 years, Ladysmith Black Mambazo has married 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 alchemy that has touched a worldwide audience representing every corner of the religious, cultural and ethnic landscape. Their musical efforts have garnered praise within the recording industry, but also solidified their identity as a cultural force to be reckoned with. 

Assembled in the early 1960s, in South Africa, by Joseph Shabalala – then a young farmboy turned factory worker – 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 being the Zulu word for axe, a symbol of the group’s vocal ability to “chop down” all things in their path. 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.

According to Therese LaGamma, Programming Manager and Curatorial Associate, “Ladysmith Black Mambazo is back by popular demand - their live performances do not disappoint and will have you wanting to kick off your shoes and dance!”

Praise for Ladysmith Black Mambazo
“It isn’t merely the grace and power of their dancing or the beauty of their singing that rivets the attention, but the sheer joy and love that emanates from their being”
– Paul Simon

“If the creative discipline and good spirits of the South African singing group Ladysmith Black Mambazo are any indication of the prevailing will and temperament of its homeland, South Africa has great chance of completing its transition from racist tyranny to equal-rights democracy with joy, not further bloodshed” – L.A. Times

Show Sponsors
Jardiniere; The Oar House; TD Bank; Leone, McDonald & Roberts, P.A.

To purchase tickets
Ladysmith Black Mambazo will perform at The Music Hall Friday March 4, 2011 at 8pm. Tickets are $38; $26. Tickets can be purchased at The Music Hall box office at 28 Chestnut Street, Portsmouth, NH, by phone at 603-436-2400, or online at;

http://themusichall.org/calendar/Event_Detail.asp?EventID=986