Superb sax jive: Thala Thala (1971)

Electric Jive returns today to the delightful and infectious sound of South African sax jive. Thala Thala is a 1971 compilation LP that gathers together some of the biggest selling instrumental 45 rpm singles of the past year or two. The songs featured on this album are short, sweet, peppy and catchy - and if this LP doesn't get you up from your chair and dancing around the room, nothing else will! Thala Thala features a grand selection of sax jives (plus three accordion jives) from some of the greatest names of the era: Marks Mankwane & His Shaluza Boys, Sipho Bhengu & His Alto Sax, Big Voice Jack, Zwino Zwino Boys, Marubini and His Hot Shots, Mtabhane Ndima, and Noah Nduweni & His Sax. This album was released on the Inkonkoni label - which, at the time of release, was the most popular of the numerous Gallo-Mavuthela imprints.

The previous owner of this LP singled out Sipho Bhengu's "Tickey Dopies" and the Zwino Zwino Boys' "Tadima Tadima" as the two highlights with a black pen on the back cover. These two songs are certainly enjoyable (EJ readers may be aware that the former BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel had a 45 rpm copy of "Tickey Dopies" in his vinyl collection) but, to my ears, there are several other songs on this LP that stand out much more than those two. Sipho's excellent sax jiving can also be heard in the rhythmic "Isaluti" that opens Thala Thala with a bang. "Auwa-Auwa", performed by Marks Mankwane & His Shaluza Boys, is quite frankly excellent. West Nkosi opens up the tune with a quick play of his harmonica (or "mouth organ") and Marks plays his lead guitar in that distinctive Marks way - but with the help of a wah-wah pedal. The two take turns soloing in this number (West solos on both the harmonica and his usual alto sax) and are backed effortlessly by the rest of Mavuthela's superb house band, the Makgona Tsohle Band.

Marks, West and the Makgona Tsohle Band return to perform "Marks Special No. 4". The band released "Marks Special" - a tune that showcased Marks' undeniably brilliant guitar skills - on single in 1969 and it was so successful that they recorded a follow-up titled "Marks Special No. 2". The third installment can be found on another Mavuthela sax jive compilation LP, Game 1 - Game 2 (1970). The fourth Marks Special here on Thala Thala spotlights Joseph Makwela's bass as much as it does Marks' lead guitar - Makwela actually plays the same iconic bass line he performed on the Mahotella Queens' smash hit single "Lilizela" a year prior. Vivian Ngubane's iconic rhythm guitar is strangely lost in the mix on "Marks Special No. 4" but it shines very much so on Mtabhane Ndima's "Emahlanzini", a repetitive but enjoyable early accordion jive from one of the masters of the style.

Vivian Ngubane was the first to set a template that other rhythm guitarists innovated upon. Marubini  Sam Jagome, inspired by Ngubane's wonderfully elastic rhythm line, developed his own personal and recognisable style. Marubini played both rhythm and lead guitar, creating a uniquely beautiful and almost wistful sound that became a trademark of the Zwino Zwino Boys, the junior Mavuthela instrumental team. The Zwino Zwino Boys featured an almost-exclusively Venda line-up ("zwino zwino" is Venda for "now now" - as in "ultra modern"!). Aside from the late Marubini on lead guitar, the Zwino Zwino Boys also featured his brother Christian Piliso Nombewu on rhythm guitar, Eddie Ndzeru on drums and leader James Mukwevho on bass guitar. Words cannot describe the great melodic back-and-forth of the title track, "Thala Thala", played to perfection by these ultra modern lads. Just take a listen and you'll understand!

Aaron "Big Voice Jack" Lerole had long since given up the strained groaning that shredded his vocal chords by the time he recorded the sax jive hit "Space Age" for Mavuthela. The title was no doubt inspired by the 1969 moon landings but the melody itself actually sounds like sax jive with a slight dash of salsa to me. We previously shared this sublime tune on our compilation Sax Jive Special - Vol.  2 - check it out now if you haven't already done so.

Thala Thala... 12 amazing instrumentals from the heyday of mbaqanga. What's not to love? Download and enjoy!

VARIOUS

THALA THALA

compiled by Shadrack Piliso and Wilson Silgee

Inkonkoni LPBS 4

1971

Instrumental

MF

Sax Jive Special - Vol. 2

We're keeping this instrumental theme going for just a little bit longer here on Electric Jive. Why? Well, why not?! Sax jive happens to be one of the most peppy and sweet styles of instrumental dance music that has ever existed - and what better way of celebrating the genre than sharing with our readers another bumper collection of the very best sax jives? Following on from our last delve into the archives, we present to you Sax Jive Special - Vol. 2.

The Makgona Tsohle Band were the first guys on the scene in the 1960s to take the swing-style instrumental jive and reshape it into the more danceable, more electric and elastic mbaqanga beat which soared to amazing heights. If just one listen to real gems like "Umzinto", "Cowboy" or "Sithunyiwe Thokozile" doesn't at the very least get your foot tapping, then there's something truly wrong with your musical tastes. Under various recording pseudonyms, the men behind the Makgona Tsohle Band created the biggest instrumental hits of the day. That team - Marks Mankwane on lead guitar, Vivian Ngubane on rhythm guitar, Joseph Makwela on bass, Lucky Monama on drums and West Nkosi leading on alto saxophone - was the gold standard, the benchmark against which all other mbaqanga bands were measured.

The Makgona Tsohle Band didn't just back West - they were the Mavuthela house band who generally backed every one of the stable's saxophone players and vocal jive groups. Lemmy 'Special' Mabaso shot to fame as the child pennywhistler of the late 1950s - but by the 1960s, with kwela out and mbaqanga in, he turned to the alto sax and joined forces with Makgona Tsohle for a series of recordings that included "Sipho Special". You can clearly hear everyone in the studio feeding off each other's high spirits on this bouncy number.

Spokes Mashiyane, the man who brought sax jive to prominence, also joined forces with Mavuthela during the 1960s. It might be true to say that the great Mashiyane became sidelined and unappreciated as the style developed further and further into the more hard and bouncy mbaqanga, with the spotlight focusing instead on fresh young talent like West Nkosi, David Thekwane, Reggie Msomi, Boy Masaka and others. Mashiyane did continue to record sporadically though and did create some great sax jives with the Makgona Tsohle Band, such as "Kgwale". "Sediba" is also an enjoyable tune featuring Mashiyane on top form. The real star here though is Vivian Ngubane who bends the melody fantastically with his rhythm guitar. Ngubane, for some rather puzzling reason, seems to be generally forgotten compared to those he worked with such as Marks Mankwane and Joseph Makwela. This is all the more strange because Ngubane was nothing less than a trendsetter. His rhythm guitar, sandwiched between Mankwane's lead guitar and Makwela's bass, became the signature elastic bedrock of the music. Until Ngubane joined the Makgona Tsohle Band late in 1964, the rhythm guitar line was still being filled by an acoustic guitar player who strummed nothing more than simple chords. Ngubane's trademark sound opens "Umzinto", a good example of the staple instrumental mbaqanga that Makgona Tsohle pumped out of the Gallo studio every week.

Sipho Bhengu, before joining the famous Mango Groove and lending them his wonderful talents, was a supreme sax jive star of the 1970s. His "Welani Imifula" opens with a boisterous spoken word from Mavuthela's boss Rupert Bopape and then gives way to the musical backing of the Jets and Sipho's great sax rhythms. Another sax jive star was Selby Mmutung - better known to you and me as Bra Sello. Sello made his name playing with Abafana Bentuthuko and later joined Mavuthela, working with the late genius Mzwandile David to produce sax-accordion jives under the name Mathwalimbuzi. "Umsuzo" rather bizarrely refers to someone breaking wind and Sello certainly creates the right impression during the opening of the tune. Reggie Msomi was also a talented somebody. During the 1960s, Msomi and his Hollywood Jazz Band (usually comprising Reggie on sax backed by the talented Makgona Tsohle Band!) produced some rather adventurous instrumental hits - taking sax jive and mixing it with various other styles such as soul, ska or reggae. "Chumba" is a great tune with some hints of Congo rumba. Aaron Jack Lerole also turned and twisted sax jive and took it to newer heights. "Space Age" is simply amazing - just listen and hear for yourself.

The marvellous Zwino Zwino Boys, led by bass guitarist James Mukwevho, bring our compilation to a fitting close with the excellent "Thala Thala". This has to be one of my favourite sax jives of all time. Sam Jagome effortlessly kicks everything off with a few calm strums of his electric lead guitar. The rest of the band joins in and this combined force works up some truly magical rhythms. The late Sam has to be one of the forgotten geniuses of mbaqanga music. He followed Marks Mankwane's unique innovations and ended up creating a signature style all of his own. Sam's beautiful lead guitar strains could be heard not only in the Zwino Zwino Boys but also behind the spirited vocals of Izintombi Zomoya.

Our thanks to Laurent Dalmasso for contributing two wonderful tracks to this compilation from the original 78 rpm discs - "Sediba" and "Sipho Special". All you need to do now is download this mix and get yourself ready for some serious jiving until you drop.

ENJOY!

SAX JIVE SPECIAL - VOL. 2

01) PAKU PAKU - MAKHOLOKHOLO (1965)

02) SEDIBA - SPOKES AND HIS GOLDEN SAX (1966)

03) UMZINTO - LUCKY MONAMA AND HIS PARTNERS (1968)

04) CHUMBA - REGGIE MSOMI AND HIS HOLLYWOOD JAZZ BAND (1969)

05) SIPHO SPECIAL - LEMMY MABASO AND HIS SAX (1965)

06) JIVE SMODERN JIVE - MAKHOLOKHOLO (1965)

07) COWBOY - WEST NKOSI AND HIS SAX (1967)

08) TADIMA TADIMA - ZWINO ZWINO BOYS (1971)

09) WELANI IMIFULA - SIPHO BHENGU AND HIS JETS (1973)

10) MANYANE JIVE PART TWO - POPS AND SONS (1976)

11) PULL MAN NO. 2 - MARKS AND THE SHALUZA BOYS (1976)

12) UMSUZO - MATHWALIMBUZI (1976)

13) BATHATHE GEORGE - ABAKHWENYANA (1973)

14) KIT BAG - MAMBAZA NABAFANA BOMSHOSHOLOZO (1971)

15) FOUR MABONE - WEST NKOSI NABASHOKOBEZI (1973)

16) AMANZI AMANCANE NO. 5 - LUCKY MONAMA AND HIS PARTNERS (1971)

17) SITHUNYIWE THOKOZILE - MAKGOLOKGOLO (1967)

18) KGWALE - SPOKES AND HIS GOLDEN SAX (1967)

19) SPACE AGE - BIG VOICE JACK (1971)

20) THALA THALA - ZWINO ZWINO BOYS (1971)

MF

Classic mbaqanga: Marena (1971)

A return to jive for this post - and if this LP we are sharing today does not fall under the category of "classic mbaqanga", I don't know what does.

This rarity is Marena, one of the many compilation LPs released on the Motella label in 1971 that represented the best tunes of the past year - though "best" may be something of an understatement.

Mavuthela's talented stars again make various appearances...

- Mahotella Queens, with guest vocals from Mahlathini on "Jive Makhona" and Lazarus Magatole on "Senakangwedi"

- Izintombi Zomoya, many of whom went onto become prominent Queens themselves at various points between 1973 and 1983

- Izingane Zomgqashiyo, a pseudonym for the combination of singer John Moriri and girl group Mthunzini Girls, formed by producer Rupert Bopape in 1966

- Zwino Zwino Boys, led by bassist James Mukwebo

- Makgona Tsohle Band, featuring some early guitar playing from Maxwell Mngadi, who was later to join the Soul Brothers' instrumental line-up

Musically, this album represents an exciting and enlightening time as far as mbaqanga music was concerned. Artwork-wise - well, see for yourself!!

From the party beat in "Stop Shouting", to praising the kings in "Marena", to the straightforward jive of "Ingede", to the almost mournful "Senakangwedi"... there's not much more to be said, other than...

...download, listen and get jiving!

MARENA (Various)
Motella LPBS 5
1971

1. STOP SHOUTING – ZWINO ZWINO BOYS
2. MAMODIEHI – IZINTOMBI ZOMOYA
3. TSABOHADI – IZINGANE ZOMGQASHIYO
4. UJOMELA – MAKGONA TSOHLE BAND
5. SENAKANGWEDI – MAHOTELLA QUEENS
6. LEFOKOLODI LA DITHOTA – IZINTOMBI ZOMOYA
7. MARENA – MAHOTELLA QUEENS
8. DIPEREKISI – MAKGONA TSOHLE BAND
9. JIVE MAKHONA – MAHOTELLA QUEENS
10. KGOMO YA MOSHATE – MAHOTELLA QUEENS
11. INGEDE – MAKGONA TSOHLE BAND
12. KGAREBE TSA GA MOTHUSI – MAHOTELLA QUEENS

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