News & Articles

Ladysmith Black Mambazo at the West Theatre. Photos by Jill Fisher. 

Kicking off a full week of great music was Teague Alexy & the Paddy Wagon to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day at Sir Ben’s with his repertoire of Irish-American tunes. 

Since I have a wee bit of Irish in my mostly Norwegian – read Viking – blood, I typically participate in St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. Teague’s was an upbeat and enjoyable show for the most part, yet I found Dylan’s “The Times They Are A Changing” they closed with to be depressing given the state of our country. 

To banish the thoughts that song had stimulated, I headed to Carmody to celebrate the holiday further by hearing Shane Nelson, who had at least one Irish song to entertain us with. 

The next evening, Tuesday, March 18, provided an extra special treat as the West Theatre presented Ladysmith Black Mambazo, a choral group from South Africa. 

Now this was something truly different for us in the Twin Ports. Ten black men in matching outfits sang the most mesmerizing and enrapturing tunes from a culture on the other side of the planet. And who knows whether we would have heard such fabulous music if it hadn’t been for Paul Simon bringing it forward with his treasured and Grammy-award winning but controversial album Graceland (released in 1986). 

The controversy was due to Simon seemingly flaunting the United Nations Resolution 35/206 that asked “writers, artists, musicians and other personalities to boycott South Africa” due to the apartheid system in place there. 

As it was, Simon did not perform in South Africa at that time despite several lucrative offers. Rather, according to him, after hearing a bootleg tape of South African musicians, he was eager to bring “such rich music” to a wider audience. And this indeed was what resulted. LBM began touring throughout the world and ultimately brought their magical music to Duluth’s West Theatre stage.

During the concert it was stated that LBM was formed 65 years ago, while the country was still in its apartheid period. Its founder, Joseph Shabalala, named the group: Ladysmith for his hometown, Black for the local livestock and Mambazo, the Zulu word for axe, as a metaphor for the group’s sharpness. 

One of the songs performed this evening was a beautiful composition honoring him with the lyric “we salute you,” which was physically expressed with actual salutes. 

Within the 10-man complement one singer took the lead. The first was a young man who introduced the next one as his older brother when they exchanged places midway during the first set.

The group performed incredibly wonderful harmonies with mantra-like phrases that were repeated over and over, which may have lured some audience members into a meditative state. Beyond this was the group’s unified and choreographed movements of arms, waving hands, high stepping feet and kicking legs (eat your hearts out Rockettes!). Their pristine white shoes served to accentuate their coordinated footwork. 

This visual aspect (sans theatrical fogs or quickly changing lights) took their performance to an entirely different and more sublime level. With sly humor the lead singer suggested that such movements were safe for folks to replicate at home!

Along with their synchronized movements, there were times when the men stood in absolute stillness. They also had a unique vocal technique that blended vocal glissandos with crescendo that was downright thrilling. Bird calls and whistles were inserted into some tunes, presumably to enliven their meanings (I didn’t even try to record the names of the songs they sung). 

All told, the audience was held in rapt attention.

After a break, LBM, filed back on stage dressed in different but still matching outfits. The opening number of the second set celebrated 31 years of South Africa’s democracy and, in particular, Nelson Mandela, which prompted sustained applause from the audience. 

Also in the second half of the concert, individual members began to break with the uniformity of their movements – jumping, ducking and personalizing their physical articulations in a way that approached slapstick. 

Winding up the concert they sang “I have joy, peace and happiness in my soul” leaving us in a blissful state.

The sold out show was definitely a hit. To a person, everyone I spoke with afterwards raved about it, some saying how emotionally meaningful it was, others appreciating the positive messages that were shared. These statements included “tough times never last, strong people do” and “music can change the world.”  

For those who missed this extraordinary concert check out the several online videos of LBM, including their song “Homeless” and the appearance with Paul Simon at an outdoor concert in Hyde Park, London. 

Mike Zito

If ever there was a contrast with the LBM show, Mike Zito and crew provided it in spades two nights later at the West. The Thursday, March 20, performance featured Zito’s hard-driving electric Texas blues on electric guitar backed by the insistent (incessant?) drumming of Matt Johnson and bassist Scott Southerland’s solid plucking. 

Even the sad, tragic lyrics of some songs did not dampen the urge to dance to the outrageously loud and intense tunes that were tinged with Buddy Guy-type Chicago blues. 

The snarly title track from his 2024 album, Life Is Hard (with follow-up lyric “then you die”) was one of my favorites, hard-bitten writer that I am. 

Yet there were touching sentiments expressed as in the song “Forever My Love” that he wrote as a tribute to his wife, who died of cancer in 2023. 

Interesting covers were sprinkled amongst his original compositions – Willie Dixon’s “I Just Wanna Make Love To You,” Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love” and the Electric Light Orchestra’s 1979 hit “Don’t Bring Me Down,” on which Zito played with his guitar pegs, bending the notes to better express downer emotions. 

Mike Zito and band

A fairly full house of Twin Ports blues fans, and others from beyond, turned out for this concert, which was meant to play last year at this time but was postponed due to weather and travel issues. 

Zito promised us we won’t have missed a thing. Nor did we. The audience couldn’t have been more receptive, with loud applause, hoots and hollers after every song. In short, this concert was well worth the wait.

In preparation for JAM! Duluth (April’s Jazz Appreciation Month), a jazz crawl took place on Friday, March 21, organized by trombonist and impresario Thomas Woytko. 

Randy Lee Quartet

This preliminary event was focused in the Lincoln Park neighborhood with six music venues – in breweries, cafés and cideries – located there. At each location two or three groups performed in the course of the afternoon beginning at 3 pm and extending into the early evening. 

From jazz students to seasoned jazz players, it was a good time to sample the multitude of jazz strains available to us. The day was sunny so the brisk walks between venues was doable if not  enjoyable. 

Besides the ever-professional Randy Lee Quartet which played at Bent Paddle Brewery, I must give kudos to the 10-piece Gochujang band that played to an enthusiastic crowd at Duluth Cider. Yowza!

Gochujang

Topping off the day was the first performance of the 51st Annual Head of the Lakes Jazz Festival at Weber Music Hall at UMD. It featured acclaimed trumpeter Ingrid Jensen and her Quintet (assembled for this event). 

This was a tamer and tonier cool jazz than what was on offer earlier that day in Lincoln Park. Jensen is based in New York City, while two of the members are UMD faculty – Ryan Frane (pianist) and Gordon Lewis (bassist) – the other two are from elsewhere. Brian Perez (saxophone, woodwinds) is the director of Jazz studies at Texas Southern University; Dr. David Schmalenberger (drums, percussion), who performs widely, is on the faculty of Augsburg College in Minneapolis.

Ingrid Jensen

It was interesting to read Gordy Lewis’s biography in the concert program, which stated he “is a multi-faceted musician, who is especially adept at performing in both classical and jazz realms.” 

No mention, however, of his musical chops as a rock-n-roller!

JAM! Duluth continues through April with Duluth Cider as the site of Thursday jazz concerts, with additional gigs and locations squeezed in between. For all the dates, times and places, check out jamduluth.com/. 

One last report: the Mavericks show at the DECC’s Amsoil Arena on Saturday, March 22, was right up my alley. It was only the third time I’ve gotten to a Mavericks concert and it was almost everything I could have hoped for. Only a longer set would have been more satisfying to me and other Mavericks fans. Their performance was flanked by singer-songwriter Noah Rinker (acoustic guitar) from California and country rocker Dwight Yoakam, who currently resides in Hollywood. 

The Mavericks

I’m guessing, by the number of cowboy hats in the audience, most folks were there to hear the latter performer. A minority of attendees who came out primarily to hear the Mavericks were convinced that they outshone headliner Yoakam.

UPCOMING: Lots of shows for varying musical tastes are coming up. Here are a few of note: Mary Bue and Gaelynn Lea concert at Sacred Heart Music Center, 7 pm, Friday, March 28. Then on Sunday, March 30, from 1-5 pm there’s a benefit for Two Harbors Community Radio KTWH, its annual “Cabin Fever Reliever” at Two Harbors High School. The afternoon promises lots of great music with Jon Edwards, Berzerk Blawndz, the newly minted Hot Tamale Cosmos and the Fish Heads. Kaylee Matuszak will emcee. 

That evening I’ll be taking in the Gary Louris (founder of Jayhawks) show at West Theatre. 

And Matinee Musicale’s last offering this season is a concert by pianist Angela Hewitt on Tuesday, April 1, 7 pm at Mitchell Auditorium, College of St. Scholastica. The performance will feature what the Curmudgeon tells me is “music of the gods” – Bach’s Goldberg Variations. All of these are ticketed events.