‘Ndibkhumbule, Nkosi (Remember Me, Oh Lord)’ -sung in Xhosa soprano, choir & piano ‘The Lord bless you and keep you’ choir & orchestra
from a live recording of a concert held in Port Elizabeth (EC) on Saturday 5th March 2005. Visit of Chief Apostle Richard Fehr. Richard Fehr (15 July 1939 – 30 June 2013) was the seventh Chief Apostle (international church president) of the New Apostolic Church from 22 May 1988 to 15 May 2005.
The New Apostolic Church (NAC) is a chiliastic Christian church that split from the Catholic Apostolic Church during an 1863 schism in Hamburg, Germany.
on my recent trip to South Africa last January 2020 I found this LP ‘How Long’, a recording of an obscure musical, written in 1973 by Gibson Kente (born July 23, 1932, Duncan Village, near East London, South Africa – died November 7, 2004, Soweto, South Africa).
Gibson Kente was a South African playwright, screenplay writer and musician. He also taught many high profile South African performers how to act, sing and dance, including Brenda Fassie and Mbongeni Ngema.
Gibson Kente
One of his earlier works ‘Sikalo’ (1966) was already in my collection but ‘How Long’ is another eye-opener. Musically the compositions are quite diverse, from African jazz to hymns, beautifully performed by a group of singers and musicians unknown to me; Zakithi Diamini, Zakes Kuse, Mary Twala, Ndaba Twala and others.
The condition of the LP was poor, scratched vinyl, torn worn cover with the name Bra Cecil on the labels, it clearly was once a well loved record in a township somewhere….
I thought that the theme of this musical and the music fits the date and spirit of this post perfectly. The musical ‘How Long’ is a document that reminds me of the horror of the Sharpeville massacre on March 21, 1960. Exactly 60 years ago. Today 21st March 2020 we commemorate Sharpeville and Human Rights Day.
Both sides of this LP can be heard in their integrality with all the crackle and hiss but the music still stands proud.
Sharpeville massacre, (March 21, 1960), incident in the black township of Sharpeville, near Vereeniging, South Africa, in which police fired on a crowd of black people, killing or wounding some 250 of them. It was one of the first and most violent demonstrations against apartheid in South Africa.
apartheid: aftermath of the deadly Sharpeville demonstrationThe wounded being tended to after police opened fire on an antiapartheid demonstration in Sharpeville, South Africa, 1960.Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
The Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC), a splinter group of the African National Congress (ANC) created in 1959, organized a countrywide demonstration for March 21, 1960, for the abolition of South Africa’s pass laws. Participants were instructed to surrender their reference books (passes) and invite arrest. Some 20,000 blacks gathered near a police station at Sharpeville, located about 30 miles (50 km) south of Johannesburg. After some demonstrators, according to police, began stoning police officers and their armoured cars, the officers opened fire on them with submachine guns. About 69 blacks were killed and more than 180 wounded, some 50 women and children being among the victims. A state of emergency was declared in South Africa, more than 11,000 people were detained, and the PAC and ANC were outlawed. Reports of the incident helped focus international criticism on South Africa’s apartheid policy. Following the dismantling of apartheid, South African President Nelson Mandela chose Sharpeville as the site at which, on December 10, 1996, he signed into law the country’s new constitution.
to celebrate the first day of the New Year 2020 Soul Safari focuses on those great vintage South African soul jazz tunes as a tribute to the musicians who made them.
Real obscure and collectible titles by The Drive, The Shyannes, The Sounds or The Nightingales but also a rarity by better known Cape Jazz artist like Morris Goldberg. Enjoy this selection of original singles and a few albums, ranging from 1969 to 1985…all from the Soul Safari collection.
Soul Safari will continue in 2020 reporting on music that is made NOW… as well as unearthing the lost gems of South African dance music past. Covering music from soul to jazz to underground disco to old skool kwaito, bubblegum and forgotten music library classics.
Soul Safari 2020 Happy New Year -Soul Jazz Mix tracklist
The Shyannes -Osakai The Go-Aheads -Go Ahead (pt 1) The Shyannes -Half Moon The Nightingales -Dyambo Sons Of Thunder -Break Down Soul Breakers -Crying Soul Nr. 2 The Sounds -Good People The Drive -Stuck In The Middle With You Soul Giants -Soul Prayer The Jazz Clan -Oh Happy Day The Morris Goldberg Quartet -D.B.B. The Drive -Iphi Intombi Yam (pt 1) The Drive -Iphi Intombi Yam (pt 2) The Drive -Shambala The Shyannes -Havanna Strut The Bee Dees -Big Brother The Sounds -Coming Home The Sounds -Thiba Kamoo
next saturday I will be travelling to East London, nowadays called Buffalo City, in the Eastern Cape province for the first big Maskandi festival in that era.
Zulu blues
Maskanda or Maskandi is a Zulu folk kind of music, which has evolved and has become big in South Africa. Maskandi music is largely popular and mostly consumed in the Kwa-Zulu Natal province, given its rich Zulu heritage and significance to the Zulu tribe. In popularity Maskandi is the 2nd top selling genre in South Africa, after Gospel music.
In Durban the genre is called ‘‘the music played by the man on the move, the modern minstrel, today’s troubadour.” It is the music of the man walking the long miles to a bride or to meet with his chief; a means of transport. Maskandi music tells us of many stories of society, about one’s view of life and personal experiences. This style of music is distinguished by an instrumental flourish (izihlabo) that sets the tone at the beginning of each song, in a picked guitar style and rapidly spoken section of Zulu praise poetry, called “izibongo“.
The content is not always praise, though, and with pop, house and other influences Maskandi it has become more about the story telling ethic and the modern migrant culture, than simply about the musical style.
It is the music of the man who sings of his real life experiences, his daily joys and sorrows, his observations of the world. It’s the music of the man who’s got the Zulu blues.”
This Saturday Zulu troubadour Phuzekhemisi is among the best-known practitioners of the Maskandi genre on stage. Other legendary performers are Mpatheni Khumalo and Bheki Ngcobo a.o.
National performers expected to perform include Phuzekhemisi, Khuzani, Mbuzeni, Amawele ka Mamtshawe, Nkunzemdaka, Shushubaby and Ntombethongo.
They will be performing alongside local Maskandi groups, Lumanyano cultural group, Sivuyile traditional dancers, 4×4 dancers, Ichawne Lebhaca and Gadla Nxumalo.
Also on the program is gospel music and dj’s like Naak-Musiq, Butho Vuthela, dj Welo, Blomzit, Mjazz, Yoba and many more.
The festival is scheduled to start at 9 AM. Check tickets and prices at Computicket.
Maskandi Festival 2019
2 Mar – 3 Mar 2019 08:00 AM – 12:00 AM
Buffalo City Stadium
Arcadia, East London, Eastern Cape, South Africa.
as part 13 in the series Township Soul & Boogie I proudly present one of Letta Mbulu’s rarest albums in existence. It may be one of those records that people sometimes refer to as a ‘holy grail’. “I’ll Never Be The Same (Mosadi)” is without a doubt an ultra rare ‘lost’ Letta Mbulu LP, released only in South Africa on the Tamla Motown label in 1973.
Actually, this LP is a compilation of material that was previously released on several albums with some new songs added, probably recorded between 1970-1973. Parts of this album consists of songs that Letta recorded frequently as part of musical aggregates put together by Hugh Masekela – most spectacularly as part of the anonymous collective known as Africa ‘68 (which was also later credited as “The Zulus”), where she took the lead on “Uyaz’ Gabisa,” “Noyana,” “Aredze” (which she’d earler performed on Letta Mbulu Sings) and “Kedumetse.”
All tracks on this LP beautifully showcase Mbulu’s gorgeous vocal capacities and the heritage of Zulu songs stand out as proud witnesses of Letta’s South African origins.
Born and raised in Soweto, South Africa on 23 August 1942, she has been active as as singer since the 1960s. While still a teenager she toured with the musical King Kong, — but left for the United States in 1965 due to Apartheid.
In New York she connected with other South African exiles including Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela and Jonas Gwangwa, and went on to work with Cannonball Adderley, David Axelrod and Harry Belafonte.
On screen, her singing can also be heard in Roots, The Color Purple (1985), and the 1973 film A Warm December,[ and she was a guest on a Season 6 episode of Soul Train. Mbulu also provided the Swahili chant in Michael Jackson’s single, “Liberian Girl”. Producer Quincy Jones has said of her: “Mbulu is the roots lady, projecting a sophistication and warmth which stirs hope for attaining pure love, beauty, and unity in the world.”
een 4 uur durende muziekspecial over Zuid Afrikaanse jazz, soul & funk door dj Eddy De Clercq & Frank Jochemsen. In dit programma gaat samensteller Eddy De Clercq terug naar de geschiedenis van jazz en de diverse invloeden van Nederland en Engeland in de muziek van Zuid Afrika. Vooral in Cape Jazz is dit duidelijk terug te horen maar ook in latere stijlen als township jive & kwela jazz zitten elementen welke Westers aandoen maar verweven worden met typische Zuid Afrikaanse melodieën en zang. Maar ook de excellente soul-jazz uit 1969 -een belangrijke periode in dit genre- komt aan bod, alsook de Mzansi House van 2014 naast enkele eigen producties van Eddy De Clercq & Friends, opgenomen in Zuid Afrika. Luister!
A 4 hour music special about South African music; jazz, soul & funk by dj Eddy De Clercq & Frank Jochemsen. Inthis program,compilerEddyDe Clercq dives deep intothe history of
South African jazz andthevarious influencesof the Netherlandsand England on the music ofthe country.Especially inCapeJazzthese influences are clear, butalsoin laterstylesastownshipjive&jazzkwelaWestern genres like R&B and jazz areinterwovenwith typicalSouthAfricanmelodiesandvocals. But also the excellentsoul-jazzof 1969–an important period in thisgenre-is discussed, as well as theMzansiHouse2014alongside someofEddyDe Clercq’s own productions, recorded in SouthAfrica.
The programme is presented in the Dutch language, but the music speaks for itself. Listen!
dj Eddy De Clercq & presentator Frank Jochemsen
Vrije Geluiden Radio 6 20.00h-24.00h -26th July 2014-Theme: South Africa
Throughout the entire month of May Soul Safari will be listing field recordings, folk, private pressings, township jive & kwela jazz, African jazz, soul & boogie, mbanqaga,and much much more with absolutely no reserves.
Records that have been presented on these pages over the last five years are now on auction. So here is your change to grab some rare African vinyl as I am cleaning out my shelves to make room for new music.
Soul Safari’s ebay auction
Soul Safari’s eBay auction
Some highlights; a collection of ultra rare and seldom heard field recordings from ILAM, recorded by Hugh Tracey. These records were purchased many years ago directly from ILAM in South Africa from what was left of their unsold stock. All records come in their original cover with the labels attached to the back cover and are unplayed, in brand new mint condition.
More Soul Safari favs like great 45’s by jive kings The Soweto Boys, mbanqaga queens The Manzini Girls are now on auction.
Now that the new year lays ahead like a blank canvas, I find inspiration in a record by Ephat Mujuru, a Zimbabwean musician who excelled at playing the mbira. Nobody knows what 2014 will bring, but let this music guide the listener like a traveler on a long journey.
Ephat Mujuru (1950–2001), was a Zimbabwean musician, one of the 20th century’s finest players of the mbira, a traditional instrument of the Shona ethnic group of Zimbabwe.
Ephat Mujuru plays the mbira dzavadzumi within the calabash resonator
The mbira dzavadzimu (the mbira of ancestral spirits) is a symbol of the traditional culture of Zimbabwe. The music of the mbira forms a link between the real and the spirit worlds, and the mbira player holds an important position within traditional society, being called upon through his music at ceremonies to evoke the particular spirit or ‘Sviriko’ to be called.
Ephat Mujuru came from a renowned mbira-playing family which can be traced back to the time of Monomatapa. Through playing at the family’s ‘bira’spirit ceremonies, the young Ephat was initiated into the secrets of the instrument by his grandfather, Sekuru Muchatera Mujuru, a great mbira player whom he wished as a boy to emulate. He tells of the conflict he found at school, where the mission teaching at the time denounced music as being a sin against God. This did not stop him from playing the music of his poeple, given by the great creator God Mwari, as a means of communicating with Him through ancestrial spirits.
Ephat Mujuru was a quiet, poetic man whose understanding and love of the music he played is matched only by his ability as a musician. His reputation was such that he was invited in 1980 for a lecture tour of the United States where he gave lectures/demonstrations at many of America’s leading universities.
The influence of mission school education and Western musical idiom had a negative effect for some time on traditional music, but in recent years this has given way to a renaissance of the mbira and its value as a link with the ancestry and culture of the Shona people.
The pieces posted here today are played on the mbira dzavadzimu (or in some instances the njari mbira) are accompanied by a second mbira, rattles (hosho), drums (ngoma), clapping (makwa) and singing (kuimba). The voice patterns are as important as the music and are divided into the mahongera, the deep, low voice; the huro, the high, yodelling voice; the kupurudza, the ululating voice (a woman’s part) and the kudeketera , the poetic narrative.
Both player and singer may intuitively modify music or lyrics and the interpretation of the traditional song may vary amongst musicians, but the ancient version known to all players will still be recognisable.
The leading vocalist of the group is Charles Gushungo whose exceptional voice and command of all three traditional song patterns is widely acknowledged and evidenced here.
This song tells the story of Chipembere, the rhinoceros, feared for his powerful turn of speed. It is sung for a traveller embarking on a long journey, and the music imparts to him the speed and strength of the rhino, that he may accomplish his journey with ease.
A travelling song, sung whilst journeying across the desert. The words and music strengthen the traveller’s spirit, giving him the courage needed for his long journey.
Ephat Mujuru and his group ‘The Spirit of the People’
The eternal myth of paradise, as old as man himself, is retold here in the song Guru Uswa. It tells the story of the Africa of mythical times, a land of milk and honey, yet at the same time it sings of Zimbabwe, the realisation of the promised land.
A story of misfortune and the power of the music of the spirits to intervene. A man wanders lost and alone, calling out “Ndoziwa Ripi- what shall I do? My family is dead and I am alone”. As he wanders he plays a plaintive song on his mbira. The chapungu eagle, bird of the spirits, appears in the sky and guides him to a settlement of people. Hearing the notes of the mbira, the people welcome him with singing and dancing. He is accepted into their community and revered for his ability to play the mbira.
text from the liner notes of The Spirit of the People -Ephat Mujuru Ensemble plays Mbira music from Zimbabwe
Busuku Obuhle is the translation in Zulu of the Christmas classic “Silent Night”.
Sung here by 500 African School Children recorded during service at St. Charles Church at Victory Park on 30th November 1971, in Johannesburg, South Africa. In collaboration with the Mission Schools Feeding Wellfare Organisation of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, 500 African children singing to the glory of God and for their and other children’s suppers.
“Busuku Obuhle (Silent Night)” is also the mood at Soul Safari for a peaceful Yuletide 2014.
At the same time I would like to send my best wishes for the New Year 2014 to all readers of this blog.
May all your dreams and wishes come true. Let peace reign!
The father of a nation. The holder of the flame of hope and democracy. One of the truely great leaders of the free world.
De houder van die Vlam van De Hoop en die Demokrasie. Een van die groot regtig leiders van die vrye wêreld.
Let freedom reign.
* From time to time, in every nation in the world, a figure emerges from the masses -pulled up by his own bootstraps- and catches the imagination and affection of the people. Mostly they are tough guys and flouters of authority, but often they have courage and become an icon of a nation.
Soul Safari 