POP MUSIC REVIEW : Ladysmith: A Spirited Salute to Brotherhood

There’s much more to a concert from South African vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo than singing. As the 10 men harmonize, they step, kick, turn on their toes and make expressive hand gestures. Coupled with their voices, the movements are designed to carry a message: We in South Africa are not so different than you here in the United States.

Much like Louis Armstrong and Dave Brubeck, who represented the United States in the ‘60s as cultural ambassadors of goodwill, Ladysmith Black Mambazo serves as South African emissaries to the people of the world.

The group, which came to international prominence after their inclusion in Paul Simon’s 1986 “Graceland” recording, brought a bit of their culture to a sold-out crowd at the Irvine Barclay Theatre Friday, presenting it in beautifully harmonious style before the backdrop of the South African flag.

Though songs with Zulu titles such as “Ayikh’ Indaw’ Enjengekhaya” may mean little on the surface to English speakers, the ensemble brought them to life with brief explanations, usually delivered by bass singer Abednego Mazibuko, and demonstrative movements that told the story.

“This is a song reminding young people not to forget traditional things,” Mazibuko said before one number. The lesson of the deliberate, almost sermon-like piece that followed reached out across races and nations.

When the songs were in English, they touched even deeper, common chords. The melancholy “Paulina” was sung as a plaintive plea from a young man to his lover to come back for “touch-touch, kiss-kiss” from someone with a devoted heart.

Led by founding member Joseph Shabalala, the group wove their voices in two-, three- and four-part harmonies, working through passages of call and response originated by Shabalala or counterpointing two and three different rhythms one against the other. The overall texture of the sound was decorated with tongue clicks, bird cries and guttural effects, mostly from Russel Mthembu, who was often jokingly chastised by the others for going his own way.

Other tunes dwelt on themes of family and religion and, in humorous style, the surprise of unexpected pregnancy. They paid tribute to origins of the musical form they follow, called isicathamiya , with a song that honored its originators, the conscripts assigned to work in the country’s mines.

The high-kicking, light-stepping dance moves associated with this music were also born of that tradition in a style known as cothoza mfana , whose lightness was designed not to disturb security guards who watched over the conscripts. Coming out of the choral lineup to dance in pairs or alone, even the group’s older members could shame the Rockettes with their enthusiams and above-the-head kicks.

But it is Ladysmith’s sound that is most moving.

With bass and tenor voices interweaving in resonant fashion, the effect, even without the benefit of understanding the words, is one that goes straight to the heart. This was such a harmonious and good-natured presentation that even the most troubled cynic couldn’t help but feel uplifted.