– Zulu vocal tradition
Coming from a family related both to music and to shamanism, Joe had absorbed strongly these influences but at the same time didn’t close himself to dialogue and collaboration with other cultures and musical worlds. Joe grew up in Soweto in one of the worst moments of the apartheid. Today, after being a part of groups such as Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Master Drummers of Africa, and Art Ensemble of Chicago, he is considered as one of the leading performers of South African music in the world, playing around 25 different percussion instruments and has an extraordinary vocal range of four and a half octaves.
He has performed in many countries around the world with Ipi Ntombi and Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and has cooperated with Hugh Maskela. In 1980 with George Fenton, he authored the soundtrack for the Cry Freedom film. As a percussionist and dancer, he has worked with Paul Young, Yazz I, Master Drummers of Africa, as well as Lester Bowie, Art Ensemble of Chicago, The Temple of Sound, and Philip Bent. He records for Peter Gabriel’s Real World Records.