It was one long aerobic session at the Eileene L. Parsons Auditorium on Tuesday when South Africa’s Ladysmith Black Mambazo took the stage, singing songs that date back as far as the group’s founding in 1964.
The a cappella group’s shows on Tuesday and Wednesday were the highlight of the H. Lavity Stoutt Community College’s Accreditation Celebration.
Shortly after HLSCC President Dr. Karl Dawson welcomed attendees, all nine singers — dressed in bright dashiki shirts, black pants and white shoes — cheerfully jogged onto the stage. Then they lined up in front of microphones.
Moments later, the silence in the auditorium was pierced by a haunting medley of voices singing in Isuzulu, one of the official languages of South Africa.
After the first song, which involved very little movement, the eldest member of the group, Albert Mazibuku, stepped forward.
“Sawubona,” Mr. Mzibuko said. “That means ‘Hello’ in Isuzulu. Then you reply ‘Yebo.’”
The audience followed his instructions. Then Mr. Mazibuko introduced the other members and explained that he joined the group in 1969 when he was 21.
The group, he added, was founded by Joseph Shabalala, who hailed from the city of Ladysmith in South Africa.
“Our mission is to spread the culture of South Africa — the culture of love, peace and harmony — throughout the world,” Mr. Mazibuko said. “We tell stories through our music. Ladysmith Black Mambazo sings about hope.”
Singing along
The group got the crowd involved several times during the two-hour-long show, with members inviting the audience to sing and clap along.
“Someone told me that here in Tortola, you can sing, so I went back and told these guys you can sing better than they can,” the lead singer joked shortly before the group broke for intermission. “They didn’t like it, but I told them whatever they can do you can do even better. This is our time to show them what you can do.”
Audience members did their best, but they were no match for the professionals.
Rochelle Smith said she appreciated the opportunity to participate.
“It was an amazing performance,” said Ms. Smith, who sings with the band Quito and the Edge. “I especially loved the harmonies. No instruments, just voices. I mean, everything in there was beautiful.”
Ms. Smith was particularly impressed with the performers’ ability to sing and dance at the same time.
“Just to hear how they blend with each other and even the synchronised movements, we were fascinated,” she said. “We were saying that if we were to do it, we would be huffing and puffing.”
Culture
Frank Mahoney, who has produced several concerts in the territory, said he would like to see such culturally diverse shows here more often.
“Whereas we like our calypso and we love our reggae and R&B, we are now fortunate to get a group like this out of South Africa that can hopefully open up the appetite of … people to enjoy different genres of music,” he said.
Winnie Johnson was especially excited about the show, as she has been a fan of the group for more than 10 years.
“I loved it,” said the former ballet teacher. “I have their CDs in my house. I just love hearing that music from South Africa.”
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