Ladysmith Black Mambazo

Ladysmith Black Mambazo performs Friday night at the Flynn Center in Burlington.

When the a cappella group Ladysmith Black Mambazo was founded in 1969, their native South Africa was in the throes of apartheid, the oppressive system of racial separatism and black oppression.

The world was nearing the end of a turbulent decade in which leaders were killed and peace movements snuffed out, with hope hanging by a thread on the branch of broken dreams and promises.

Nelson Mandela, the eventual first black president of the country, was in a South African prison. America was in a divisive war in Vietnam and the Middle East was a powder keg. The 1960s had three high-profile assassinations — John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy — and political unrest in the streets and the nation’s college campuses.

Somebody needed to say something. They needed to say it through microphones and speakers that reached worldwide audiences. They needed to strike a chord without chasms, not to simply confront violence but to turn it into something more sustaining, something more benevolent.

That’s when Ladysmith Black Mambazo embarked on a mission of love, peace and harmony.

That “mission” has lasted for nearly six decades, and shows little sign of abating. It continues this Friday at the Flynn Center in Burlington, the latest of the group’s several visits to the Green Mountain State.

Now in their 57th year, the group is still going strong, albeit with nine members who range in age from their late 20s to 69 — the elder statesman being Albert Mazibuko, one of the group’s founding members.

He was a youthful 21 when Ladysmith kicked off what would become a worldwide rendezvous with some of the world’s greatest, most revered music, performing with the likes of Dolly Parton, Stevie Wonder and Paul Simon, most notably for Simon’s “Graceland” album.

“I think we had a mission that we wanted to accomplish,” Mazibuko said in an interview from California last week. “We wanted to give the world this kind of music and sing and compose the kind of music that is going to empower people. That has kept us going.”

So, what can the Burlington audience expect?

“Our music is going to warm us up,” the 69-year-old singer said, recalling when the group’s bus from Vermont to Boston once had to pull over on the side of the road because snow made the road conditions too bad for travel.

Mazibuko attributes the group’s focus to its universal success. He says Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s newest members are bringing forth a smooth transition.

“Those are things you have to do every day,” he says of singing, “like food. That’s why we keep going. We have been going by the next generation.”

Mazibuko says that “next generation” embodies the promise of the future with an appreciation for the past.

“They’re in their 40s, (and) they have been with the group for 20 of those years,” he says about four of the group’s members. He credits them with showing the more established — and older — members the direction music was taking.

The group started with 10 members but as some either passed on or retired, the group settled on nine.

“The new members, because they are young, they brought new energy in the group,” he said, and what he describes as “the other style of music using the instrument.” Yes, Ladysmith is no longer strictly an a cappella group.

“They help us,” Mazibuko said. “The older members of the group never used instruments.”

The “youngsters” in Ladysmith include a relative of Mazibuko.

“The youngest member is a guy that joined us last year. He’s in his late 20s. I call him ‘grandson,’ because his mother is my niece.”

Ladysmith has a longevity most groups can only yearn for, and Mazibuko says they have to keep doing it the way they’ve always done it.

“The message is still relevant. (The world) still needs peace, love and harmony, especially today. People are killing one another. The message of peace, love and harmony is still needed today. Absolutely.”

If there is one universal theme in the group’s message and music, Mazibuko says it’s in the power of forgiveness.

“We still have to love one another,” he added. “Make this place better.”

The group’s latest CD is titled “Walking in the Footsteps of Our Forefathers.” That was meaningful, he says.

“As older members of the group, we gave the leadership to the younger members, what songs, how we are,” and other responsibilities.

“They are walking in our footsteps.”

Ladysmith has performed all over the world, but South Africa remains home, Mazibuko says.

“I think South Africa is a fortunate country because we have the real freedom,” he says, pointing out how Mandela was “good for the country” and South Africa was fortunate to “get a foundation like him.”

“Right now, our country is going well, a democratic country with freedom of speech, same opportunity. It’s a free country, even when you’re walking down the street.”

Animosity and hatred can be found in different parts of the world, but Mazibuko says what happened in his own country helped to shape the group.

“That era inspires us, tells us to do something,” Mazibuko says. “Sing what we sing around the world, empowering ourselves also.”

That’s what has kept Ladysmith Black Mambazo going for so long, he says.

“If you are facing a tough time, you have to be strong. You’ll be prepared. These are the kinds of songs we are performing.

“Let’s be strong and ready in whatever comes and know that you will conquer it.”

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