Lorraine Klaasen
Encyclopedia
Lorraine Klaasen is a Montreal
-based world music
singer. Her mother is South African singer Thandi Klaasen
. She has performed at the Montreal International Jazz Festival, and her international itinerary has included the United States, Mexico and the Caribbean. She and her mother are also reputed as two of Nelson Mandela's favorite musicians.
, Dolly Rathebe
, Dorothy Masuka
, Sophie Mgcina and Busi Mhlongo
, contemporaries and friends of her mother, Thandi Klaasen
.
She launched her career at a very young age, accompanying her mother to live performances all over South Africa and neighboring states of Mozambique and Swaziland. Later she got into musical theater and toured across Europe, eventually arriving in Canada where she settled in Montreal.
Lorraine Klaasen's musical repertoire has been steadily infused with a blend of Quebec, Haitian and French African influences, along with several African languages (Zulu, Sotho, Xhosa, Lingala) and her band musicians' Caribbean roots to create an eclectic sound.
As a promoter of the performing arts for the Canadian youth, Lorraine Klaasen has lent her support to various groups and organizations such as RapSohD Talented Teens Canada.
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
-based world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
singer. Her mother is South African singer Thandi Klaasen
Thandi Klaasen
Thandi Klaasen is a jazz musician from Sophiatown, Gauteng. Her career as a singer and dancer began in the mid-1950s. In 1961 she moved to London to work in the musical King Kong. She has since performed with Dolly Rathebe, Miriam Makeba, Dorothy Masuka, and others.When she was a teenager, her face...
. She has performed at the Montreal International Jazz Festival, and her international itinerary has included the United States, Mexico and the Caribbean. She and her mother are also reputed as two of Nelson Mandela's favorite musicians.
Bio
Lorraine Klaasen was influenced by South Africa’s musical giants of the 1950s and 1960s, such as Miriam MakebaMiriam Makeba
Miriam Makeba , nicknamed Mama Africa, was a Grammy Award winning South African singer and civil rights activist....
, Dolly Rathebe
Dolly Rathebe
Dolly Rathebe was a South African musician and actress.Dolly Rathebe was born in Randfontein in South Africa but grew up in Sophiatown which she describes as having been "a wonderful place". She was discovered around 1948 after singing at a picnic in Johannesburg...
, Dorothy Masuka
Dorothy Masuka
Dorothy Masuka is a jazz singer who was born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe in 1935, then called Southern Rhodesia. She was the fourth of seven children and her mother was Zulu while her father was a Zambian hotel chef. Still, she attended a Catholic school deemed good by the standards of education allowed...
, Sophie Mgcina and Busi Mhlongo
Busi Mhlongo
Busi Mhlongo , born as Victoria Busisiwe Mhlongo, was originally from Inanda in Natal, South Africa, Busi Mhlongo was considered by many to be a virtuoso singer, dancer and composer whose music defies categorization....
, contemporaries and friends of her mother, Thandi Klaasen
Thandi Klaasen
Thandi Klaasen is a jazz musician from Sophiatown, Gauteng. Her career as a singer and dancer began in the mid-1950s. In 1961 she moved to London to work in the musical King Kong. She has since performed with Dolly Rathebe, Miriam Makeba, Dorothy Masuka, and others.When she was a teenager, her face...
.
She launched her career at a very young age, accompanying her mother to live performances all over South Africa and neighboring states of Mozambique and Swaziland. Later she got into musical theater and toured across Europe, eventually arriving in Canada where she settled in Montreal.
Lorraine Klaasen's musical repertoire has been steadily infused with a blend of Quebec, Haitian and French African influences, along with several African languages (Zulu, Sotho, Xhosa, Lingala) and her band musicians' Caribbean roots to create an eclectic sound.
As a promoter of the performing arts for the Canadian youth, Lorraine Klaasen has lent her support to various groups and organizations such as RapSohD Talented Teens Canada.