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Dec 19, 2019 · The South African Songbook: Jazz Musicians Who Stayed During Apartheid. Twenty-five years have passed since South Africa ended the cruel social experiment of apartheid, which divided its citizens ...
- Simon Rentner
- Dudu Pukwana and Mongezi Feza
- The Blue Notes
- Ndikho Xaba
- Winston Mankunku Ngozi
"The first black South African jazz I ever heard was a combo with, at front, Dudu Pukwana the saxophonist, and Mongezi Feza on trumpet," Ansell said. "This was at Oxford where I was at university, and it was during the period when many highly accomplished black South African musicians were living and working in the United Kingdom. I think everyone ...
"The Blue Notes came to Europe for a jazz festival in 1964," Ansell said. "The leader of the band, Chris McGregor, was a white musician who wanted to play non-racial music and was very alarmed by the fact that he wasn’t putting himself in danger — he could live on his privilege — but he was putting the musicians who worked with him in danger. (Unde...
"In South Africa at that time, Black musicians who wanted to perform in mainstream arenas had to play a white conception of so-called 'tribal music' — they had very limited scope to exercise their creativity," Ansell said. "A lovely story is that of the multi-instrumentalist Ndikho Xava, who said his decision to leave was made in a studio. He was d...
"One of the most famous jazz records ever made in South Africa is Winston Mankunku’s Yakhal’ Inkomo," Ansell said. "'Yakhal’ Inkomo' means 'the bellowing bull,' which was a nice, rural-sounding title that didn’t upset the censors. But Mankunku himself said to me that after shows, people would come up to him and say 'Don’t worry, brah, we know what ...
Mar 19, 2019 · That night was February 2 1959. The setting was the Wits Great Hall in Johannesburg. And the history being made was the first all-Black South African musical. King Kong, the jazz-influenced ...
The jazz scene in South Africa grew much as it did in the United States. Through performances in nightclubs, dances, and other venues, musicians had the opportunity to play music often. Musicians such as singer Sathima Bea Benjamin learned by going to nightclubs and jam sessions and waiting for opportunities to offer their talents. One unique ...
Makeba, Masekela, Semenya, Mama Mbulu, Tabane, and Bahula were among the many, many people who, through music, became activists and used their voices to fight against oppression. After the release of Mandela from prison — after 27 years — in the 1990s, some of the exiled musicians returned to South Africa, but others continued living in the ...
Posted on December 12, 2013 by Live Music Exchange. In response to the death of Nelson Mandela, Professor George McKay looks at some of the experiences of South African jazz musicians under apartheid in the 1960s. Professor McKay is Professor of Cultural Studies at Salford University and AHRC Leadership Fellow for the Connected Communities ...
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Jazz has had an especial role in the social and cultural politics of South Africa. This paper will trace its function in the political struggle waged by Black and Colored musicians against the apartheid regime, from the early 1950s until the 1990s, focusing on the work of one artist particularly. While Abdullah Ibrahim is by no means the only ...
