Review: Ladysmith Black Mambazo (S'pore Arts Fest 2009)
Three-time Grammy Award winner for Best Traditional World Music, Ladysmith Black Mambazo hails from South Africa and had been around for over 40 years. "Ladysmith" is the name of the hometown of the founder, "Black" refers to the oxen and "Mambazo" is the zulu word for axe. Interesting. And so was the programme.
For the entire evening, the group presented works from their 2009 Grammy Award winning CD, Ilembe, and selections from their rich and long history. Their performance was extremely polished and their harmonies were so tight, even when they incorporated movements whilst singing, they were still perfectly synchronised with each other. Amazing! The 1st half was a tad hypnosis-inducing, mainly because of the endless looping of South African tunes. But it was so comfortable listening to them, it would have been a sweet slumber indeed. :p
The 2nd half was more fun, with one of the singers heating things up with jokes and audience participation. At the end, they invited members of the audience up on stage to dance along with their melodies. It was really quite cool as 5 gung-ho ladies took to the stage. I thought it was a great way to reach out to audiences as the ladies seemed to really enjoy themselves. And from the very easy and comfortable way the singers interacted with the audience, it is no wonder they're the commercial success they are.
Years down the road, these ladies would probably always remember those fabulous few minutes and other members of the audience would probably always remember the South African group that came and brought music and fun... Singapore's arts groups really need to learn more from this group.
