The a cappella vocal group that has been creating music for over sixty years brings South African musical tradition to Worcester. In partnership with Crocodile River Music, the Worcester-based organization showcasing African artists, Ladysmith Black Mambazo shares their trademark tight harmony and exciting rhythm. You may know the group from Paul Simon’s Graceland album, but since then we’ve heard so much more from the ensemble, which is one of the (if not the) most famous South African musical groups of all time.

In this performance filled with groove, traditional instrumentation, and energy that’s filled the hall since 1960, audiences are also introduced to historically informed style. Bringing Isicathamiya to the stage – a style of Zulu a capella – the group provides a powerful and approachable introduction to South African musical style. 

Crocodile River Music was established in 2011 by Zach Combs and Issa Coulibaly to support African artists in presenting music, dance, and art that both educates and connects audiences of all ages, backgrounds, and capabilities.

In 2012, we launched the African Arts in Education program, allowing us to extend our reach to schools and community groups. This program has served over 200,000 students in its first ten years, leaving a lasting impact through interactive workshops, compelling performances, and engaging school residencies.

Today as a Worcester-based nonprofit organization, our offerings – including concerts, workshops, lectures, and other educational programs – showcase emerging and established African artists to inform, connect, and inspire audiences.

Let us tell you a story. An impossible to believe, yet, true story. Once upon a time there was a teenage boy working on his family farm in apartheid South Africa. The year was 1960. This boy  loved to sing, in fact he loved to sing so much that he allowed himself an impossible dream. In  his dream he would create a group of singers, from his family members, to sing traditional South  African songs. His group would perform all over South Africa and they would become the  greatest music group his country would ever know. How could such a dream come to a young  farm boy in a country rife with hardship, violence and trouble? Well, Joseph Shabalala was this  young farm boy and his dream would become Ladysmith Black Mambazo. 

The year 2025 marks the 65th anniversary of Joseph Shabalala forming Ladysmith Black Mambazo. His group would not only conquer all of South Africa, but would become a worldwide  phenomenon, winning more GRAMMY Awards (Five), and receiving more GRAMMY Award  nominations (Nineteen), than any World Music group in the history of recorded music. 

During the dark years of South African Apartheid, Ladysmith Black Mambazo followed a path of  peaceful protest through songs of hope and love. When Nelson Mandela was released from  prison, in 1990, he said that Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s music was a powerful message of  peace that he listened to while in jail. When Mandela was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, in  1993, he asked the group to join him at the ceremony. It was Mandela who called Ladysmith  Black Mambazo “South Africa’s Cultural Ambassadors to the World.” 

The group sings a traditional music style called isicathamiya (Is-Cot-A-Mee-Ya), which developed in the mines of South Africa. It was there that black workers were taken to work far away from their homes and families. Poorly housed and paid, the mine workers would entertain themselves, after a six-day work week, by singing songs into the wee hours on  Saturday night and Sunday. When the miners returned to their homes, this musical tradition  returned with them. 

In the mid-1980s, American singer/songwriter Paul Simon famously visited South Africa and  incorporated the group’s rich harmonies into his renowned Graceland album – a landmark recording considered seminal in introducing World Music to mainstream audiences. This  brought the group to the attention of music lovers all over the world, the beginning of a global  musical career that shows no sign of ending. 

After leading his group for over fifty years and approaching his seventy-fifth birthday, Joseph  Shabalala retired in 2014, handing the leadership to his three sons, Thulani, Sibongiseni and  Thamsanqa Shabalala. Having joined their father’s group in 1993, their many years of training  had prepared them in ways no others could be trained. Now, carrying their father’s dream into  the future, the Shabalala Family continues the group’s success for the world to hear. 

Ladysmith Black Mambazo is Thulani Shabalala, Sibongiseni Shabalala, Thamsanqa Shabalala, Msizi Shabalala, Albert Mazibuko, Abednego Mazibuko, Mfanafuthi Dlamini, Pius Shezi and Sabelo Mthembu.