Dorothy Masuka celebrating 60 years in biz

  after 60 years in showbiz, music veteran Dorothy Masuka still has no plans to retire. For the singer retirement doesn’t exist in her vocabulary, music is in her soul.

She explains; “I’ve always respected my profession as well as myself as an African woman. When I was younger the world was a different place. Music was like great wine -the more mature, the better. These days, with technology and media, things happen faster for the youngsters. I am glad I have crafted a legacy for the young generation that will be left behind when I pass on,” she says laughing.

 ”Young people must keep on singing indigenous African music because that’s what the world is looking for. And they must keep on composing beautiful new tunes.”

Dorothy Masuka -Ngi Hamba Ngedwa

see also South African Soul Divas pt 2 Dorothy Masuka, Mahotella Queens, Irene & The Sweet Melodians

To celebrate her musical output during her long career Gallo Records just released Dorothy Masuka’s ‘Ultimate Collection’ on CD/DVD. 

Label: GRC – Product code: CDGMP 41062. Available from May 2013

 Dorothy Masuka – ‘Ultimate Collection’ 

Disc 1

1. Hamba Nontsokolo
2. Umakhumalo
3. Into Yam
4. Lendaba
5. Suka Lapha
6. Handsome Guy
7. Khanyange
8. Impi
9. Magumede
10. Hapo Zamani
11. Somandla
12. Nginje
13. Kulala
14. Igoli
15. Kwamamazala
16. Mamela
17. Bari
18. Sofa Silahlale

Disc 2

1. Hapo Zamani
2. Kulala
3. Umakhumalo
4. Magumede
5. Mamela
6. Khanyange
7. Ei Yow
8. Suka Lapha
9. Lendaba
10. Into Yam
11. Yombela Yombela
12. Sofa Silahlale
13. Lokhuza
14. Mandela
15. Khawuleza
16. Nontsokolo

source; Sowethan + ‘Mama Dorothy’ by Richard Galler, Sawubona travel magazine South African Airlines May 2013

While most songs of a minstrel troupe are the comic songs -“Moppies” and “Lietjies”- that have been handed down by tradition and which are the feature of the Cape Town Carnival there will also be found some of the American songs which are more frequently heard in present-day Carnivals. … Not in the case of this album ‘Coon Carnival’ by The Golden City Dixies on which all songs are live versions of famous hits by American crooners, one exception being ‘Pata Pata’ originally made famous by Miriam Makeba.

Each track is being introduced by MC Dave Bestman and the accompanying band plays a tight selection of slow ballads, uptempo rock and a quite surprisingly good version of ‘Pata Pata’ by Sophia Foster.

see also Kaapse Kloppe -Cape Town Carnival January 2nd 2013 Cape Town

Sophia Foster -Pata Pata

Miley Martin -No Matter What

Coon Carnival -The Golden City Dixies live in Pretoria 1971 – MFP STEREO 5758 South Africa

This little song has perpetuated the determination of the people of Holland to make their little prince their ruler…

…and  today’s post starts in the spirit of this song, as the Dutch have recently celebrated the inauguration of King Willem Alexander and Queen Maxima on April 30th 2013. Times may change but centuries old traditions die hard. One of South Africa’s longest standing traditions is the parade  of die Kaapse Kloppe during the Cape Town Carnival. These colorful minstrels and dancers are the most visible representatives of the cultural diversity of Cape Town. Their music has also  inspired jazz musician Abdullah Ibrahim and many others.

See SA Jazz -Abdullah Ibrahim speaks! Staffrider interview with poet Hein Willemse NYC Dec 1986.

And Kaapse Kloppe -Cape Town Carnival January 2nd 2013 Cape Town. 

To celebrate the New Year, in the first week of January, a song and dance celebration is held with many groups of local musicians, dancers and choirs from the Cape Malay population being present during the  festive parade through the streets of Cape Town. The music during this event is just too unique to keep hidden the rest of the year so today’s  post shines a light on a few well known gems and their origins…

There are a number of Cape Malay choirs. They compete annually for awards, and competition is keen. The choirs are experts in harmonising even without instrumental accompaniment, but the traditionally established instruments of the Cape Malays are the banjo, the guitar, the ‘cello (slung guitar-like over one shoulder) and the ghomma (pronounced khoma) – a drum made by stretching a skin over one end of small wine vat.

It was more then three centuries ago that the forebearers of those who are now the Cape Malays were brought to these shores of Southern Africa on board the vessels of the Dutch East India Company and other ships plying the Far Eastern trade routes for spices and exotic produce. In those days the Cape Malays were the slaves and servants in the small colonial community that the Dutch established. They brought with them their distinctive cultures and crafts which have been adapted and utilised so that they still make a valuable contribution to life at the Cape. The Malay Quarter remains from those far-off days. An extensive restoration programme has been implemented…so that this place of warm colours and rich culture will be preserved for posteritiy. Its way of life is Islamic. There are many mosques and minarets.

The Cape Malay community is one of song. This repertoire of song is unique in Africa, for it has become, in some respects, a merging of Eastern music with old Dutch ‘liedjies’ (folk songs) and melodics. Perhaps too, the harmonising for which the Cape Malay choirs have become famous may have been assisted by the singing of sea shanties during the long voyages from the East…for the choirs often sing without  instrumental accompaniment.

The repertoire consits mainly from the wedding songs, special ceremonies, informal occasions and picnic melodies and from songs sung during the celebration of the ‘tweede Neue Jaar’ -the Second New Year. Annual choral competetions are a feature of Cape life. These songs are a priceless heritage.

Alabama -Januarie Februarie March (Daar Kom Die Alibama)

no collection of Cape Malay songs would be representative without this theme song, based on the visit of the Confederate clipper ‘Alabama’ to Table Bay in 1863. Ghammaliedjies are often strung together, which explains the insertion of the well-known Januarie, Februarie March.  

Ghommaliedjies

At the picnic, a ring (krans) is formed, the players joining hands and walking in a circle while one verse of an old traditional song (generally a wedding song) is sung. At the end of the verse, the drummer who sits in the middle of the circle, starts a ghommaliedjie and the players split up to dance in groups of three. Ghommaliedjies are also known as afklopliedjies. 

Oom Jakkal

an amusing example of a moppie (an Afrikaans comic song) in which the Cape Malay in some way get linked with their old rulers of Batavia (Holland)

Die Beren

a moppie, an old Dutch folk song also called ‘ik zag twee beren broodjes smeren’ (I saw two bears grease sandwiches)

Beetepote

a good example of a moppie. This type of song often reflects local conditions. In this case, the singer tells how he meets various girls carrying delectable baskets of butcher’s meat.

see also The Golden City Dixies live in Pretoria

All songs and some text from the album ‘Malay Quarter’ released by Gallo South Africa, early 1970

Hit Parade Africain Vol 4 -Orchestre Les Noirs, Orchestre Sinza, Franco & Orchestre TP Ok Jazz, Orchestre Les Rebelles, Les Bantous, Orchestre Mando Negro, Orchestre Hi-Fives MLP 12-198 UK

Contradictory to the information published on flatinternational please notice that the record presented here today is not on the Atlantic City label but a later pressing on Up Up Up released in 1974. Pics of the band on the back cover were taken during the Port Elizabeth Jazz Festival 1968. Unfortunately the front of the cover is missing from my copy so if anyone has a spare empty cover of this release then make yourself known in case you would like to swap or sell. You will be rewarded!

Chris Schilder Quintet featuring Mankunku -Spring (Springtime In The Cape)

Chris Schilder- piano

Winston ‘Mankunku’ Ngozi- tenor sax

Garry Kriel- guitar

Phillip Schilder- bass

Gilbert Matthews- drums

Recorded November 22nd 1968 at the Herrick Merrill Studios Johannesburg.

Issued 1974 by Up Up Up Records/Teal UPL 5007.  Made in South Africa

Produced by Ray Nkwe

A.1 Spring (Chris Schilder)

A.2 Before the Rain and After (Chris Schilder)

A.3 Look Up (Chris Schilder)

B.1 The Birds (Chris Schilder)

B.2 You Don’t Know What Love Is (Raye, De Paul)

This exceptionally rare LP was finally reissued on CD by Gallo Record Company in 1996, 2007. The CD features Mankunku’s first two albums and is titled Yakhal’ Inkomo after his first record—South Africa’s best selling jazz record of all time. Spring is Mankunku’s second and it’s scarcity can be attributed to a fire at the EMI factory which destroyed the original master tapes.

source flatinternational

There they are noticed in 1978 by a Frenchman who records them for the renowned label Ocora. When Tony Van der Eecken, music programmer of the Brussels Bozar, encounters Konono on one of his journeys in the Congo, he decides to bring the group to the Low Countries for a tour.  Dutch punk band The Ex  released recordings of their first performances in Holland on Terp Records. Today they are connected to the Belgian label Crammed Discs, that releases their music  in the series ‘Congotronics’.

Last weekend Konono Nr. 1 performed during the World Music Festival 2013 at the new centre for modern and experimental music; Muziekgebouw aan het IJ/Bim Huis in Amsterdam. Normally  this center operates as a platform for ‘serious’ music with the spectators seated on chairs. Not so when Konono Nr. 1 was on stage. It took just a few minutes before people got up from their seats and started dancing in the aisles.

It was therefore impossible to sit still during the swinging performance. The band played a tight set on instruments made ​​from discarded household and amplified likembe. The music of Konono No 1 connects city and jungle, they play ritual trance music for special occasions. When they started in Kinshasha they had to drown out the noise of the city, so they  amplified their likembe, also known as a thumb piano, a series of metal blades mounted on a sound box. The trance repertoire receives through the additional distortion an extra dimension.

The name Konono Nr. 1 means as much as to move the dead. Whether they pull that off is debatable but their long spun performance last Friday transformed the hall into a swirling dance club.

Later the same night the American DJ/blogger/anthropologist Brian Shimkovitz aka Awesome Tapes From Africa did the same thing upstairs in the lounge during a magical set of obscure, fascinating African music, mainly from cassettes.

to kick off the new month here is a groovy mix of great rumba, soukous, afrobeat…all tracks taken from ‘Hit Parade Africain Vol 4′, released by the wonderful label Melodisc Records Ltd that was based in London.  No year of publication is indicated, so I estimate that  this release is from mid 70s.  Melodisc Records Ltd released a remarkable selection of early ska, rocksteady and African music and the records are quite rare these days….so enjoy this mix!

Hit Parade Africain Vol 4 -Orchestre Les Noirs, Orchestre Sinza, Franco & Orchestre TP Ok Jazz, Orchestre Les Rebelles, Les Bantous, Orchestre Mando Negro, Orchestre Hi-Fives MLP 12-198 UK

Hit Parade Africain Mix 1 April 2013

 Orchestre Sinza -Mahoungou

Franco et l’Orchestre TP OK Jazz -Ye Nr. 1

Orchestre Les Rebelles -Manicero

Les Bantous -Macaro

Orchestre Les Noirs -Sikiya Sauce Nr. 1

Orchestre Les Noirs -Amin Nr. 1

Orchestre Hi-Fives -Belina Mon Amour

see also Celebration at Ciro’s

João Maria Tudella was born in Lourenço Marques, he studied at the Coimbra University in Portugal. He first won renown as a Fado singer, but has shown himself to be equally adept at dance band music and proved himself in several recordings to be a gifted young singer.

On this remarkable rare album ‘Uma Casa Portuguesa’, released by Gallotone at the end of the 60′s,  João returns to his Portuguese roots. The selection of songs are all compositions by Artur Fonseca who is responsible for writing the classic song  ’Uma Casa Portuguesa’,  best known in the version by Amalia Rodrigues and hundreds others.  A rare photograph of Artur Fonseca together with Tudella at the piano graces the cover.

At the time of the release of this album Fonseca was working as musical director of the Radio Clube of Moçambique, based in Lourenço Marques, nowadays Maputo.  Then the captital and biggest city of Moçambique, a thriving Portuguese colony, Lourenço Marques attracted many South Africans for business and holidays. Gambling and the luxurious entertainment offered at the casinos were other main attractions. The many hotels of the city offered regular gigs to the many visiting artists from Portugal and South Africa.  See also Cabaret at The Moçambique.

The doors of popularity opened to João Tudella because of his two successes ‘Kanimambo’ and ‘Hambanine’, which were real hits in the field of popular music. These two discs put João Tudella in the hit parade around South Africa and in Moçambique, the land of his birth.

On this album well known South African bandleader and arranger Dan Hill, great friend of the composer Fonseca,  accompanies pianist João Tudella with a small quintet.

João Tudella -Uma Casa Portuguesa

João Tudella -Mocambique

João Tudella -Baiao, Baiao

João Tudella -Magaica

João Tudella -Lourenco Marques

João Tudella -E Uene

João Tudella -Uma Estrela Falou

João Tudella -Adeus Cidade

João Tudella -Holiday in Lourenco Marques

João Tudella -Hambanine

João Tudella -Macala

Hotel Tivoli Lourenço Marques -1960s

thanks to Matthias Offodile for the pics of Lourenço Marques in the 60′s

this post contains excerpts from the original liner notes of the album 

João Tudella canta musica de Artur Fonseca-Uma Casa Portuguesa w/ the Dan Hill Quintet -Gallotone GALP 1107 -released in South Africa/Mozambique end of 60′s

“Kala-Harari -Rock” was released in South Africa at the end of 1979.  It was the group’s third album and the selection of songs leans heavily on their African roots. This is Harari’s first real return to Africa since ‘Rufaro’ which was the genesis of the Harari sound.

The concept of  ’Kala-Harari -Rock’ is based the raw wildness of the jungle, translated into music acceptable to the Western ear.  File under Afrobeat, Funk, Disco. The standout track on this album is easily the instrumental ‘Soweto Sunset’ a mesmerizing funky groove, relaxed and powerful. Other favourites are’Safari’, ‘Jikeleza’ and ‘Elephant Dance’. But why not judge for yourself, the full album is available here on these pages for a limited time only. Enjoy!

A1. Kala-Harari – Rock 5:18

A2. Give 5:22

A3. Safari 5:20

B1. The Whole World’s Dancing Now 5:17

B2. Soweto Sunset 4:40

B3. Jikeleza 3:37

B4. Elephant Dance

• Bass, Vocals, Percussion – Alec ‘Om’ Khaoli*
• Congas, Percussion [Assorted Percussion] – Oupa Segwai
• Drums [Drums & African Drums], Vocals, Flute [Flute & Alto Flute], Kalimba, Percussion [Assorted Percussions] – Sipho Mabuse
• Guitar – Doc Mathilane*
• Guitar, Vocals – Masike Mohape*
• Producer, Arranged By – Alec Khaoli, Greg Cutler, Sipho Mabuse
• Strings, Vocals, Synthesizer [Fender Rhodes, ArpMoog], Clavinet, Organ – Thelma “Neo”Segonah*

see also the homebrew of Harari -Township Soul & Boogie pt 3 and Om’Khaoli -Magic Touch 1982 -Township Soul & Boogie Vol 6

It was in the streets of hip Melville that I witnessed some of the most exciting new hybrid of house music, coming out of shops and boomboxes of passing cars. So as a fresh post here today, I report on the house scene of Johannesburg, a city also called Jozi by its loving citizens.

 ”People making house music in shacks in townships, it’s everywhere, on the radio, tv and media”

ELECTRAFRIQUE NAIROBI
in association with KALAWA JAZMEE
is delighted to invite you to

BLACK MOTION LIVE @ ELECTRAFRIQUE NAIROBI
Talking To The Drums

Venue: The TreeHouse Club,Museum Hill Westlands
Date: Friday 15th February 2013
From: 9pm – 5 am

Entry: Ksh 1,000
(Advanced tickets information to follow shortly)

Age: +21

Join the movement and witness the marriage between Native and Contemporary Instruments.

The ELECTRAFRIQUE family, is a worldwide network of Artistes & Deejays fusing African and Electronic sounds.

Music Policy:
AFRO HOUSE | DEEP HOUSE | SOULFUL HOUSE | TRIBAL HOUSE | TECH HOUSE|AFRICAN SOUL |FUNK|DISCO|NU DISCO|COUPE DE CALLE |KUDURO

More details:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Black-Motion/161467293908113?fref=ts

Robert aka Dj Murder lives in a homemade overthrow of corrugated iron. He is sleeping between his greatest asset, a battery of computers and keyboard types.

With his buddy Thabo ‘Smol’ Mabogevane he forms the duo Black Motion, one of the new young house-sensations in Johannesburg. 2011 and 2012 was big time for the duo as they headlined concerts all over the world in places like Miami, Canada, United Kingdom etc. Through a mutual relationship the boys have been offered to create music in a professional studio but they choose for the impromptu studio in the shack – ‘home is where the heart is’. Black Motion is one of the acts which is showcased in Real Scenes: Johannesburg, a recent short documentary about the thriving house scene of South Africa’s capital.

Black Motion

In one of the scenes the boys can be found hunched over the illuminated displays, while a monotonous drumbeat fills the space, synths vibrate into a warm flow and their bodies rhythmically pan on the hypnotic groove. Their sound is based on that of pioneer-dj Oskido who discovered Black Motion in 2010. Ricardo Da Costa of Soul Candi Records defines the genre as a slowed down version of the original American house music but with even deeper basses and more complex rhythms, interwoven with a spirituality which is inspired by traditional drumpatterns of the African ancestors.

Black Coffee

The classical trained musician Black Coffee is perhaps the most famous South African dj of the moment. He is seen as someone who passes the positive message of house as a true ‘griot’. In Africa, griots are known to pass the history and culture of a certain tribe through music and song. His albums are good for gold. The man conquers the country with a full symphonic orchestra during megaconcerts where those by Madonna fade. Black Coffee is at present travelling the world giving European and American tours.

Through the success of Black Motion  and other young and established acts, black boys in cities such as Johannesburg today dream of becoming the next famous dj and producer of hits. Black Coffee, Black Motion, Culoe De Song, Mash-O (the Drum herbalist) and white wunderboy Ralf Gum are just a few names of a new generation in Johannesburg that dreams aloud about house music as a way out of the townships. The prevailing sentiment is that house music can create a better future for everyone in South Africa. Hope rises on the horizon. DJ Black Coffee’s latest album is applicable called ‘Africa Rising’.

Top 5 -Jozi House

1. Black Motion – Aquarian Drums -(album CD -Kalawa Jazmee Dance 2012)

2.Ralf Gum – Linda featuring Oluhle (album track from CD ‘Never Leaves You’ -Gogo Music/House Afrika 2012)

3. Black Coffee -Africa Rising (Deluxe Album CD -Soulistic/Risa 2012)

4. Mash-O (Drum Herbalist) -Ishikhalo Shenhliziyo featuring Oluhle (album track from CD ‘Mash-O (Drum Herbalist)’ -Herbal Records 2012)

5. Culoe De Song -A Giant Leap (Album CD-Soulistic/Risa 2012)