Joseph Shabalala Vice Radio Bantu
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the 1987 Grammy for Album of the Year. Ladysmith Black Mambazou, too, would Swansongs win Grammy Awards—five in all, the last in 2018 for Shaka Zulu Revisited: 30th Anniversary Celebration as Best World Music Album. They would also collaborate with the likes of Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, and Mavis Staples, and appear in the Michael Jackson filmMoonwalker . They earned a Tony nomination for their score for the 1993 Broadway play The Song of Jacob Zulu, in which they performed as a chorus. And that same year, they accompanied Nelson Mandela to Oslo when he accepted his Nobel Peace Prize. Bhekizizwe Joseph Siphatimandla Mxo- veni Mshengu Bigboy Shabalala was born on Aug. 28, 1941, on a white-owned farm near the town of Ladysmith, out in the hills of KwaZulu-Natal, where his parents, Jon- athan Mluwane Shabalala and Nomandla Elina Shabalala, worked. Joseph, the eldest of eight children, left school at 12, after his father died. As a teenager, he moved to Durban to work in a textile factory and sang in local vocal groups—the Durban Choir Swansongs and The Highlanders. In 1959, he formed Ezimnyama, which he renamed Ladysmith Black Mambazo. They featured several of Shabalala’s brothers and cousins singing. The mbube and isicathamiya music that the all-male group sang originally emerged from the mining camps and industrial worksites created by migrant workers toiling far from home. Singing late into the 1947-2019 night, they established harmony singing contests to relieve their after-work boredom. These contests played a significant role in the development of traditional choral music 1941-2020 in South Africa. And Ladysmith Black Mambazo were competitive from the start. Possibly too good, as they were eventually banned from competitions for winning too frequently. In 1970, they began singing on radio programs broadcast on the Zulu ser- Joseph Shabalala vice Radio Bantu. Such exposure caught the oseph Shabalala, founder of the Amabutho (1973) and would record numer- attention of South Africa’s oldest indepen- Grammy Award-winning South ous national gold and platinum discs, their dent record label, Gallo, which eventually African all-male, a cappella group harmony singing gained widespread inter- released Amabutho. It was followed by a LadysmithJ Black Mamboza, died in Life national recognition for their collaboration further two dozen successful albums before Eugene Marais Hospital in Pretoria, Feb. with Paul Simon on his blockbuster album Graceland. 11, from long-term complications attributed Graceland. They would feature prominently Paul Simon first heard traditional South to back surgery, aged 78. on two of the album’s key tracks, Homeless African music on a cassette: Gumboots: While Ladysmith Black Mambazo were and Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes, Accordion Jive Hits, Volume II. By request, the first black group in South Africa to both co-written by Shabalala. Graceland Black South African producer Roger earn gold status for sales of their debut LP sold 16 million copies worldwide and won Steffens sent Simon further tapes including 10 penguin eggs: spring 2020 Nigeria’s King Sunny Ade and, crucially, father, Jim, played the accordion. And Arty Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s. Simon grew initially followed in his father’s footsteps infatuated by Ladysmith’s uplifting vocal and could knock out a reel by age five. harmonies. When he flew to South Africa to His mother, however, bought him a guitar work with local musicians, Shabalala was at the age of 11, and he practiced endlessly, invited to the Johannesburg studio. Their guided by English guitarist Bert Weedon’s rapport was instant. When the two men em- Play in a Day tutorial books that influenced braced, Shabalala would later say it was the the likes of Eric Clapton, George Harrison, first time he had ever hugged a white man. and Ray Davies. In the wake of the success of Graceland, Tuning into American forces radio broad- Ladysmith released Shaka Zulu (1987), casts from Germany throughout the ’50s, which Simon produced. It earned a Gram- McGlynn was drawn to jazz and R&B, most my for Best Traditional Folk Recording. notably guitarist Wes Montgomery and Such exposure shot the group to interna- tenor saxophonist Jean-Baptiste (Illinois) tional fame on the then nascent world music Jacquet. scene. David Onley At age 15, he earned a living performing But tragedy wasn’t far behind as apartheid with various Irish showbands—The Melody still gripped South Africa. In 1991, Shaba- Men, The Plattermen, Brian Call and The lala’s brother, Headman, who sang bass in ing, and the state of the world. Buckaroos… They largely covered the Ladysmith, was shot and killed by a white He released 32 albums, including outings current pop tunes of the day on the lucrative guard who was convicted of culpable ho- with The X-Rays and The Nashville Jug dancehall circuit around Ireland and the micide only to serve a three-year sentence Band. Olney died on Jan. 18, the way all UK. He taught himself to play the pedal under house arrest. Shabalala’s wife of 30 performers dream of dying—onstage sing- steel guitar. years, Nellie, who led her own all-female ing, his guitar in his hands. After he passed, But by the late ’70s, he returned to his group, Women of Mambazo, was also shot he didn’t drop his guitar or fall off the stool traditional roots and recorded McGlynn’s dead outside Durban in 2002. He faced fur- —a true professional to the end. Fancy—the first album to feature Irish ther tragedy in 2004 when another brother, – j. poet traditional tunes played predominantly on former Ladysmith Black Mambazo singer an acoustic guitar. Ben Shabalala, was also fatally shot. It struck a note with the various members Joseph Shabalala retired in 2014. Lady- Arty McGlynn of Planxty and the Bothy Band, who had smith Black Mambazo continue to tour. Pioneering Irish Guitarist already taken Irish traditional music in – Roddy Campbell Born 1944 exciting new directions. He would perform onsidered one of the finest acoustic and record with numerous members of these Cguitarists ever performing traditional two bands. David Olney Irish music, Arty McGlynn died Dec.18, Prolific Americana Songwriter after a long illness. He was 75. While he en- Born 1948 joyed a long and storied career as a soloist, avid Olney moved to Nashville in and a fruitful parternership with his wife, the early ’70s, intent on making a fiddler Nollaig Casey, McGlynn performed careerD as a country singer and songwriter. or recorded with virtually a Who’s Who of Like his pal Townes Van Zandt, Olney’s Irish music: Van Morrison, Enya, Planxty, quirky, poetic lyrics and hard-to-pigeonhole Christy Moore, Dónal Lunny, Paul Brady, style made him a hard sell, although he did De Dannan, Patrick Street, Four Men and a get songs recorded by Emmylou Harris, Dog, Liam O’Flynn… His pioneering 1979 Steve Earle, and Linda Ronstadt. solo album McGlynn’s Fancy is considered Critics thought his 1995 album High, one of the most influential albums in tradi- Wide and Lonesome—released just as the tional Irish circles. Americana boom was taking off—would Born Aug. 7, 1944, McGlynn was make him a star. Its hard-hitting lyrics, raised in remote Botera, a few miles west dark melodies, and the presence of Garth of Omagh, County Tyrone. He grew up Hudson, Rick Danko, Rodney Crowell, and surrounded by a family of traditional other heavy hitters made it one of his best musicians. His mother, Mary, played the efforts. But despite relentless touring he fiddle. Her father, Felix Kearney, was a never got the attention he deserved. well-known local poet and songwriter, and He gave witty interviews, willing to go on her two brothers, Feely and Arthur Kearney, Arty McGlynn at length about music, the art of songwrit- were both fine fiddle players. McGlynn’s penguin eggs: spring 2020 11 Edmonton Folk Music Festival August 6-9, 2020 www.edmontonfolkfest.org ••• 1tei.1 (dmonton EDMONTON United THE WESTIN 6'1~ @ JOURNAL O Rentals Canada £DMONTON ALBERTA ml EDMONTON·~· LOTFkYFL."\/D ....... Iii\\ His credits would include Paul Brady’s waii in 1934. He started playing Hawaiian seminal album Hard Station. Van Morrison, music in high school with his friend Dave too, took notice and McGlynn appeared on Guard, who became the Trio’s banjo player Morrison’s album’s Inarticulate Speech of and second guitarist. the Heart (1986), Avalon Sunset (1989, and They moved to California to attend Days Like This (1995). college, soon meeting guitarist/percus- Still, in 1986, McGlynn joined the all-star sionist Nick Reynolds. The unnamed trio lineup in Patrick Street, which included started performing bawdy songs to make Andy Irvine, Kevin Burke, and Jackie Daly. beer money and meet women, but after McGlynn would record four studio albums meeting publicist Frank Werber they turned with the band before leaving after All in pro’ as The Kingston Trio and became the Good Time (1993). As a producer he saw to rage of the emerging folk scene, adding a Four Men & A Dog’s debut Barking Mad show-business polish to traditional music. Buddy Cage (1991)—an album that Folk Roots Maga- They signed with Capital Records in 1958. zine voted Folk Album of The Year–the first Their first single, Tom Dooley, a Civil time an Irish band won this honour. War-era song about murder and jealousy, McGlynn would go on to perform occa- won them a gold record. Although acous- Buddy Cage sionally with his wife, Nollaig Casey, and tically based, they played rock, pop, and Storied Canadian Pedal Steel Player record two albums, Lead the Knave (1989) world music, landing 14 albums in the Top Born 1946 and Causeway (1995).