DURANGO - One of South Africa's most celebrated singer-songwriters, Johnny Clegg, returns with his band on Tuesday to the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College. Clegg's son, alternative rocker Jesse Clegg, opens the show at 7:30 p.m. The dance floor will be open.
Internationally renowned, Clegg offers a vibrant blend of Western pop and African Zulu rhythms. He last performed at the Community Concert Hall in 2011.
Long before Paul Simon introduced Ladysmith Black Mambazo to the world, Clegg had formed his multi-cultural band performing African jazz-pop music and Zulu chants with multilayered vocal harmonies - songs that feature English lyrics alongside South African musical structures.
A native of Lancashire, England, Clegg as a child moved with his family to Africa, eventually settling in South Africa. Starting on guitar at the age of 14, Clegg was introduced to South African music when he heard a street musician, Mntonganazo Mzila. Enchanted by the sound, Clegg apprenticed himself to Mzila for two years, learning the basics of Zulu music and Inhlangwini dancing.
Together with Sipho Mchunu, a Zulu musician who came to Johannesburg in search of work, Clegg formed South Africa's first multiracial band, Juluka. In the seven years that they were initially together, the band recorded two platinum and five gold albums and achieved international success. Following the group's disbanding in 1986, Clegg continued to blend African music with European pop influences with the band Savuka.
Reunited with Mchunu in the mid-'90s, Clegg re-formed Juluka and toured throughout the world as opening act for King Sunny Ade. Today Clegg continues on the world stage as a solo performer and with the Johnny Clegg Band, receiving numerous awards and accolades.
Human, Clegg's most recent studio album, was released in 2010, although on tour he continues to perform his greatest hits of the past 30 years, as well as new unplugged songs from his Live album released in 2014.
Notably, Clegg's live shows also include stories and tributes to the late former South African president, Nelson Mandela (1918-2013). Clegg performed at all four of Mandela's Aids Awareness Concerts in South Africa and in Norway. Mandela even once joined him on stage during the performance of "Asimbonanga," a song written by Clegg about Mandela's period of incarceration.
Noted the Cincinnati Beat, "...Even when Clegg is addressing very specific African dilemmas, there is a universality that accompanies the message and, of course, the music that propels the message transcends any attempt to fit it into a particular pigeonhole."
View a Johnny Clegg Band live sampler at http://www.johnnyclegg.com/video.html.
Opening the show is Clegg's son Jesse, a South African alternative rock artist whose 2008 debut album, When I Wake Up, and his 2011 follow up, Life On Mars, have made the Clegg a platinum-selling success in his home country. He has released four Top 10 singles, toured extensively throughout South Africa, playing the biggest festivals in the country, and has performed abroad in both North America and Europe.
As an official ambassador for the Nelson Mandela 46664 foundation, Jesse was invited to play at Radio City Music Hall in New York alongside Stevie Wonder, Black Eyed Peas, Alicia Keys and many others. He has been nominated for three South African Music Awards over the course of his career.
Tickets for Johnny Clegg Band with special guest Jesse Clegg are $34 and $45. Tickets are available by calling 247-7657, on the web at www.durangoconcerts.com, or visit the ticket office inside the Welcome Center at Eighth Street and Main Avenue in Downtown Durango. Ticket Office hours are Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., and Saturdays, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. On show days, the box office at the Concert Hall will be open one hour prior to curtain.
