Albert Mazibuko still can't quite believe his luck. It was 40 years ago that Joseph Shabalala, his cousin, turned up unannounced at Mazibuko's house one day in the South African township of Ladysmith and explained that he'd had a dream, that together they could take the tribal isicathamiya sounds they had grown up listening to, and singing, to the world.
'It is still a constant surprise to me,' says the 63-year-old Mazibuko. 'I had never expected anything like that. It was just a dream for us, first to start the group and then for the group to take our music to the world. And this is a dream that came true.'
Since 1969, Mazibuko has been a part of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the a cappella group his cousin formed, and which first rose to international prominence thanks to their part in US singer-songwriter Paul Simon's 16-million selling album Graceland in 1986.
Over that 40 years, however, Ladysmith's main work has been in South Africa, where they constantly visit schools and encourage children to explore the boundaries of their nation's musical heritage.
And it all started with that dream. 'I still remember the moment when Joseph came to me in 1969,' Mazibuko recalls. 'I had known him, of course, as I had grown up but he had been away since 1964. And so he came to us that day and he told me, 'I had a dream of my grandmother. She has sent me to you. She said you will help me to achieve the dream that I have about improving this type of music'.
'I was very excited and happy. It was all about taking this music, writing songs and making it new. And also it was about giving it to our people, to touch our people and help to make them strong.'
