September 29, 1988, Portland O bserye^P afle^
S p otlight On
‘ Lady M a g ic ’
Ladysm ith Black
M am bazo
t ’s been alm ost two years since
Ladysmith Black Mambazo and
Paul Simon ignited the musical
world w ith ‘Graceland’, an album
that brought the rich heritage of
South African m usic to an enor­
mous new audience. Since then,
this premier accapelia group has
been very busy indeed, according
to Ladysmith Black Mambazo
founder and spokesman, Joseph
Shabalala.
I
“ I think the most amazing thing
that has come from our work with
Paul Simon is that we have now
travelled around the world, and
people love us and love the way
we sing. That’s it. I am a singer.
And now ! see how much people
listen to the music. Amazing
things have happened since 1986
when we made ‘Shaka Zulu’.
Spiritual convictions are at the
root of this singer/com poser’s
muse. Shabalala’s modesty belies
a career that now spans some
thirty years as a singer and per­
former. The m usic is called
Isicatham iya (Say “ Ith-Scot-ta-
m ia” and c lic k your tongue down
off the roof of your m outh in bet­
ween the t ’s and you’ll be close to
the Zulu pronunciation. It means
"to walk on one’s toes, lightly.” )
The journey began in the
mid-50's when Shabalala left the
Township of Ladysmith heading
for the port city of Durban. He
returned to Ladysmith after a few
years and began to form his own
groups, He recently recalled this
period of his development:
“ I always felt this was very per­
sonal, very good music, but I felt
there was som ething missing
somewhere. I formed the group in
1960 and tried to teach them
m usic that I feel, but I failed until
1964 when a dream came to me. I
always hear the harmony from the
dream and I said that this is the
harmony that Iw a n t.”
The group’s name refers to
The Black Axe of Ladysm ith’,
because they won every singing
com petition, cutting down their
opponents. Their local notoriety
led them to the big city of Johan­
ing and costuming: " Cermonies In
Dark Old Men;“ " Portraits in Black;"
"Split Second;" " Wild Indian;” and
"Simply Heavenly."
nesburg where a live broadcast
brought them into the national
spotlight in South Africa. Their
recording career began in 1970.
The 26 records released since
that tim e established Ladysmith
Black Mambazo as one of Africa's
most enduring acts
The group had traveled to Ger­
man concert dates three times
before Paul Simon heard the
group in the m id s t of his
‘Graceland’ recording sessions.
Despite their trips to Germany,
the group was unknown outside
of Africa except to very few
knowledgeable fans of African
music an'i a handful of Germans.
When they flew to London to
record w ith Simon, that was all
about to change.
The Graceland Tour was one of
the most lauded cultural events of
1987. To many people, it was a
d ram atic in tro d u c tio n to in ­
d ig e n o u s A fric a n s e n tim e n t
rooted in tribal traditions and a
people evolving on a continent
riddled w ith contradictions in
social tradition, culture, politics
and the fu tu re . F o r m any,
Ladysmith Black Mambazo will
remain the focal point of all the
joy and irony experienced during
the G raceland C o n cert. The
sound is inexplicably physical,
som ething many call spiritual ef­
fect.
Having picked up the Grammy
for the Best Traditional Folk
Album, Shabalala and the group
went into a New York recording
studio to record their 27th LP, apt-
'/ titled ‘Journey Of Dreams’. It is,
in many ways, Joseph Shabalala s
testim ony to the dreams that have
led his way into a landscape of
harmony and beauty.
“ I learn from this dream until
those w ho’re singing for me ap­
peared and they were children. I
can’t say whether they were black
or white, but I discovered they
were floating between the stage
and the sky. Those children are
singing very nice w ith their
beautiful voices. If the children
were here on earth you’d find me
amongst them, singing.”
On October 29, 1988, at the Per­
forming Arts Center, Wanda will ap­
pear as Rachel in Storefront Theater’s
production o f " Zoo Man & the Sign.
She will also be the costume designer
for the IFCC's production o f" The Col­
ored Museum” slated to open in Janu­
ary, 1989..
As far back as she can remember,
she had a love affair with fashions:
dressing up in vintage clothes, trying
on different hats and shoes and imag­
ining what it would be like to create
styles that would capture the imagina­
tion of her peers.
" I always enjoyed nostalgic fash­
ions and music. I used to watch old
To quench her thirst for vintage
fashions, Wanda organized, managed
movies just to see the vintage clothes
and the decor," she recalled. After
and directed two modeling troupes,
finishing high school, she set out to
coordinating vintage fashions to music
learn the history of fashion and learned
and choreography, she created a
to
distinguish the different fashion styles
timeless period of new life and linger­
from era to era.
ing excitement.
" I started collecting vintage clothes
In 1985, Wanda launched an excit­
as
a hobby because I had always
ing career in theatrical costuming when
been
involved with the arts: writing,
she was contracted for the position of
paianting.
. .and I fell in love with
Costume Designer for the p la y " The
period
clothing
- the workmanship,
Resurrection of Lady Lester”. Set in
the
detail,"
she
said.
the 1950’s, the play took its’ audi­
Her name is Wanda Walden, but in
ences back to the 40’s and the 30"s,
the African-American community, she
revealing an array of period clothing
is known as ” lady magic.”
and vintage apparel. Wanda’s cos­
tuming captured the timeless era of
In 1986, ” Ma Rainey's Black Bot­
tom", a play about music and racism,
afforded Wanda the opportunity to
grace Portlanders with her acting tal­
ent. Of Wanda's performance, Mag­
gie White, Editor, The Downtowner,
sa id " Wanda Walden was consistent
throughout the play as Dussie Mae
and should be given more roles. All in
all, it was a superb evening of the­
atre.” The costuming was done by,
you guessed it, Wanda Walden.
In 1987, her name appeared on no
less than five theatre credits for acti-
wwce
AND SPECIAL GUESTS:
J. J. F A D
OCTOBER 5 • STARRY NIGHT
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FROM PAUL SIMON’S “ GRACELAND”
L A D Y S M IT H
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OCTOBER 18
PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
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(Downtown),
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at Performing Arts Center. Subject to service charge and /or user fee.
A
L
OMAR & the Howlers
Jon Koorce & the Hawks
9 P.M. ONLY • $5 ADV.
TUES., OCT. 11
Eddie Shaw
and the
Wolfgang
9 P.M. • $4 ADV
THURS., OCT. 13
Mitch Woods
& Rockets 8 8 ’
plus Curtis Salgado
& Stilettos
9 P.M. • $5 ADV
PORTLAND OBSERVER
the play.
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SA TUR DA Y, OCTO BER 1
‘ D IR T Y B L U E S & R O A D H O U S E R O C K ’
"The Eyes and Ears of the Community"
288-0033
D.J. Jazzy Jeff
&
The Fresh Prince
t ’s been a year and a half since
D.J. Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh
Prince scored their first interna­
tional hit, “ Girls A in ’t N othing But
Trouble,” an amusing little d itty
about the perils of modern teen­
age romance. Shortly after Jive
Records picked up the indie
single, “ G irls” went on to sell
over 190,000 copies in the U.S. In
the U.K., it soared into the Top 20.
Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince
grew up in the neighboring Phila­
delphia towns of Southwest Phil-
ly and W infield, respectively. Jeff
Townes, now 23, says he started
deejaying at parties at ten years
old. “ I used to call m yself a
bathroom deejay,” he recalls, “ be­
cause I would tag along to parties
w ith older deejays and finally get
my chance to go on when they
went to the can.”
Jeff spent long hours in his
basement “ laboratory,” teaching
him self the techniques that dis­
tinguish his work today — cat­
ching double beats, scratching
tw o records at once, backspin-
ning and “ transform ing” (taking a
sound already on record and alter­
ing it to sound com pletely d if­
ferent). He emerged to debut his
new skills at a party hosted by
Lady B, the great rap deejay who
has made her radio home at Phil-
ly’s WUSL for years. “ The next
day she talked about it all on the
radio,” he recalls. Instantly, Jeff
was established as one of the top
hip deejays in the city, and it
keept him working for three years.
But by January of '86, after, hav­
ing hooked up w ith “ about 2000
different crews,” he was bored.
Then he met the Fresh Prince.
Prince, 19, was born W ill Smith,
and wrote “ poetry and little
stories” from the tim e he was a
kid. A fter hearing the Sugar Hill
Gang’s “ Rapper‘s D elight" in
1979, he started to rap, reasoning
that “ they weren’t doing anything
I co uldn ’t do.” He was 13 years
old.
By that tim e he was already
known as "P rince Charming,
thanks to his teachers who, even
as they were scolding him, mar­
velled at his ability to talk his way
out of a jam. A fter shortening the
moniker to Prince, he added
"Fresh,” he says, “ when it was
the word.”
“ I don’t understand groups
who come onstage looking real
mad,” says Prince. "W e just want
people to have fun.” On the other
hand, the crew ’s m otto for 1988 is
“ Too Damn Hyped.” The com bin­
ation of their new album and up­
com ing tour should work together
I
F R ID A Y , O C T . 21
9 P .M . •
SUN., OCT. 23
MAYTHER BROS. •
COOL’R • LINN
RAZORBACKS
ST. CORNER SINGERS
$10 ADV
SUN., OCT. 30
6th ANNUAL PORTLAND
UNDERGROUND
BLUES FEST!
T o u re K u n d a
nheritors of the many cultural influences generated by French
■ colonial rule and by the incredible diversity of African tribal
groups, the three brothers called ‘Toure Kunda' have always been
open to new musical possibilities A com bination of rich m usical
tradition, inspiration from O tis Redding and James Brown and
influences from rock and reggae have made Toure Kunda one»of
Europe’s most popular African bands. The unique musical m ix has
also made the group accessible to enthusiastic throngs of
Americans who have had the good fortune to see Toure Kunda
perform in this country.
The three Toure brothers — Ismail, Sixu, and Ousmane —
come from Senegal, a small country on the coast of West Africa. In
1975, Ismail traveled to Paris to explore the music scene there. A fter
a year of adapting to European culture, he sent for Sixu and
Amadou, the eldest brother. Before Amadou’s arrival, Ismail and
Sixu recorded two albums which mixed reggae and African music.
Those records were not made under the name ‘Toure Kunda’.
When Amadou arrived in Paris, the brothers assumed the
group name. Their early work emphasized voices and percussion in
com bination w ith traditional African instruments, the balafon (a
wooden xylophone using gourds as resonators) and the kora (a
twenty-one stringed instrum ent w ith gourd and cowskin resonator
and redwood neck).
In 1983, Amadou died during a performance at Chapel des
Lombards in Paris. Younger brother Ousmane joined the group^
inspiring the ensemble to continue w ith his fresh spirit and
strength. In the spring of '83, ’Toure Kunda’ recorded a beautiful
tribute album to Amadou: ‘Amadou T ilo ’. The LP s rolling rhythm s
and m odal m elodies proved extrem ely popular, and the
g ro u p -in c lu d in g the brothers and an exciting dance band of
singers, dancers, and m usicians — embarked on an extensive tour
of Europe, Algeria, and their West African homeland to support the
record
The Paris-Ziguinchor tour of West Africa (which can be heard
on ‘Toure Kunda Live’) was a monumental acheivement for the band.
When Toure Kunda arrived home, they were met by a cheering,
dancing crowd which included the President of Senegal.
Their visit to the homeland inspired ‘Toure Kunda to further
explore their roots, and upon returning from Africa they cut the very
traditional ‘Casamance Au Clair de Lune’. Ismail stresses ‘Toure
Kunda’s’ com m itm ent to their musical origins.
t
In January, 1985, ‘Toure Kunda’ recorded another LP, Natalia,
w ith Bill Laswell of ‘M aterial’. Following the release of that record,
the qroup toured the U.S. Ismail stresses the close connections
between the music of Black Africans and Americans. “ Because of
our origins we have ties w ith Black-Americans, he says, by jazz,
which existed from the memories of people who were taken from
their land, by blues, and by the fact that all the m usic played by
Black-Americans has an a ffinity w ith ours. We have to make them
discover it.”
,
_
_
_ .
,
W riting for Spin. Village Voice m usic c ritic Greg Tate put it
another way: “ As messengers from our collective point of origin,
‘Toure Kunda' possesses the power to move us into circular m otion,
from our beginnings to beyond and back again.
» • * ?»♦ » • » »
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