Vukani – Awake! (1962) A cinematic context

For more than two years Electric Jive has been sharing some wonderful and diverse South African music, and when time permits, also providing a little context and background. Only ten percent of the fifteen thousand or so monthly hits on this website are from within South Africa, so we cannot and should not assume your experience and knowledge of the powerful social and political forces that contributed to a music that provided oppressed generations with joy, celebration, inspiration, upliftment and avenues of cultural expression.

We depart from the musical norm today to share an historically fascinating fifteen-minute movie – not only the first by an African to describe South Africa's conditions, but actually the first film to be shot by an African film-maker on the African continent. While I have some idea of South Africa's music from the early sixties, I have limited knowledge of its film. For this reason  I asked my good friends Max Annas and Henriette Gunkel to tell us a little about Lionel Ngakane and the cinematic window he provides into South Africa at that time. The next installment of our usual musical offerings will follow in a few days – but we do believe there are many out there who will find this movie very interesting.

Lionel Ngakane

South African director Lionel Ngakane (1928 – 2003) is considered as one of the fathers of African cinema – at least outside South Africa. Within the borders of the country most people have never heard of him, despite the fact that his reputation equals that of Ousmane Sembene, Djibril Diop-Mambety, Souleyman Cissé or Med Hondo. The legendary ‘table of the elders’ at the pool of the Hotel Independence, reserved for the real dignitaries during Ouagadougou’s bi-annual Pan-African Film Festival FESPACO, used to be occupied by Sembene from Senegal, as well as Henri Duparc and Désiré Ecaré from Côte d’Ivoire – and by Lionel Ngakane.

Ngakane, born in Pretoria, was a student at the University of Fort Hare in Alice and at Wits in Johannesburg. He worked as a journalist for DRUM before he became involved in film. In 1952 Zoltan Korda made him assistant director for his Paton adaptation ‘Cry, the beloved country’, in which Ngakane also featured as an actor in the role of Absalom. At that time he had already spent two years in exile in England. He made a living from acting, mostly through smaller roles, but wanted to be a filmmaker. ‘The trouble in this country is that people in theatre and films simply can't visualise a coloured man as a director’, Ngakane said in an interview (see here). ‘It is hard enough to get through to one of them, and when you do, you hear the secretary say to the boss – “There's a coloured gentleman on the phone”...’

So it was only in 1962 that Ngakane was able to make his first film. With his own camera he went back to South Africa and looked at the living and working conditions of black people in his country. ‘Vukani – Awake’ focuses on poverty and the reasons for it. In this film Ngakane documents the newly builttownships and explains that black people – he says WE in the off commentary – do not want to live there. He counters the images by portraying how white people live and how labor is organized to benefit them – and not the people who do the work.

‘Vukani – Awake’ sets out a number of firsts. It was the first film made by an African person that documents the situation black people had to live in. It was the first movie that was made to mobilize the public – nationally and internationally – against the Apartheid regime. And it was the first visual expression of what was to become the next step in the struggle against racialized injustice – as it was not just a hidden message of the film that the fight against oppression would turn into an armed one from now on. It took more than another ten years before a similar attempt to describe South African realities attracted more attention, when a collective clandestinely shot and distributed ‘Last Grave at Dimbaza’.

Lionel Ngakane

At the time of the production of ‘Vukani – Awake’ most of the countries in West Africa already had won their independence. And it is this part of Africa that people remember as the birthplace of African Cinema; Senegal in particular, where Sembene and Paulin Soumanou Vieyra were fighting for their possibilities to make films, or perhaps Niger, where Moustapha Alassane tried the same. ‘Vukani – Awake’, however, was the first film shot by an African filmmaker on the African continent. But whenever or wherever the start of African cinema is claimed Lionel Ngakane and ‘Vukani – Awake’ are missing.

Five years later Ngakane produced his most famous film in London. ‘Jemima & Johnny’, inspired by riots in Notting Hill, is the fantasy - or if you want an utopian future - of a non-racial society expressed through the story of a little girl and a little boy who wander about the British capital. He made a documentary on Nelson Mandela for British TV in the 80s before he returned to South Africa where he lived until his death in 2003.

The movie is in divx format and is about 150mb in size.

Rapidshare here
Mediafire here

Era - Manyano

Era – Manyano (Atlantic ACH 1000, 1980)

Queenstown jazz vocalist Stompie Mavi (1955-2008) began his career in the early 1970s as a teenager in an outfit known as the Modern Jazz Sextet, alongside guitarist Ivan Makina. ‘Manyano’ (meaning ‘unity’ or ‘oneness’ in isiXhosa), is the 1980 debut LP from the band he fronted from the late 1970s onwards. Era made their mark on the South African jazz scene, and some HYMAP recordings of them in performance at the Market Theatre have been made available at the ever eye-opening SAMAP site (here). Mavi went on to great success, and much of his music is still quite widely available. The LP we present here is the first outing by this fondly remembered star. A tribute by the former South African minister of arts and culture, Pallo Jordan, can be found here.

Decked out in dashikis, and with their star-signs listed on the back cover in the best 70s soul tradition, Era lay down a polished jazz-funk fusion in the Spirits Rejoice mold, the horns bright and crisp over the infectious, elastic thump of the rhythm section. Enjoy.

Stompie Mavi – lead vocals; Buggs Tafu – guitar; Xuba Xaba – alto; Don Heba – trumpet; Sam Nxusani – bass; Desmond Malotana – keyboards; Gambu Pasiya – tenor; Zola Sishuba – backing vocals; Themba Mngomezulu – drums.

UPDATED LINK HERE (July 2015)

Maskanda Roots (1927 - 1964)

I recently acquired a copy of Guy Buttery’s excellent new limited edition LP, To Disappear in Place, featuring outtakes and demo’s from his 2009 album Fox Hill Lane (his third CD). Some years back his brother Paul introduced me to the music with a copy of his second album Songs from the Cane Fields (2005) and I was already struck then by how much this guitarist’s work is about place — that is Kwa-Zulu Natal — the region in which Buttery as well as many on the Electric Jive team, including myself, grew up. You can almost feel the rolling cane fields in his music.

Buttery’s new LP features a remake of the tune Burnside (with Syd Kitchen, Tony Cox and Chris Letcher) from the CD Fox Hill Lane. The track is a homage to maskanda — a style of music often featuring a picking or strumming guitarist — that has significant roots in the Zululand region. (View Buttery's live performance of Burnside at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre on YouTube.)

Chris Albertyn and I have often spoken about doing various mixes of this style of music for Electric Jive. Listening to Burnside inspired me to plough through the 78 rpms in the flatinternational archive and look back at the roots of the maskanda tradition.

Almost every text on maskanda usually opens with a mention of this scene: a seemingly lonely figure walking the streets of Durban, decorated guitar in hand, strumming away and singing to himself. The ambulating musician and the cyclical, repetitive structure of the music almost suggests a journey or even a kind of nomadic life.

For maskandi the nomadic life was not unusual, many moving in rural areas from village to village. Also, the life of the migrant worker in the larger context of South Africa required leaving home for long periods — moving to Durban or Johannesburg away from rural areas — and bringing the music was a way to culturally reconnect back home.

Maskanda is often described as a neo-traditional style of music and is most famously linked to the guitar, though not exclusively. The long syncretic tradition has incorporated a number of Western and global instruments including the concertina, accordion, violin, whistle (as in referee whistle) as well as a number of traditional instruments. In many respects the term itself — maskanda — is an amalgam derived from the Afrikaans musikant meaning musician. Carol Muller in her book Music of South Africa suggests that the term itself implies an association with music made by Afrikaans-speakers such as white farmers. (Here I am thinking of vastrap performed with concertina, etc.) Most other forms of Zulu traditional performance such as singing, dancing, drumming were referred to as ngoma.

According to the LP Rough Guide to African Guitar Legends the history of the modern European guitar actually has its roots in Africa. As the liner notes reveal, it was the “Moorish invasion in the eighth century that brought the guitar from Africa to Spain.” Perhaps ironically, it was Portuguese traders in the 1620s that then re-introduced the instrument to Africa through the back door, so to speak, when they settled in the area now referred to as Zimbabwe. Instruments such as the single-string bow were already native to the region and it was not a leap to translate aspects of those traditions to the modern guitar. This instrument as with the concertina became commonplace during the 1930s after cheap locally made versions were produced. Significantly, according to Rob Allingham, only the Zulu, the closely related Ndebele (of Zimbabwe) and the Shangaan (of Mozambique) were known to have adopted the guitar in the region by this point.

There are two main guitar styles within the maskanda tradition, ukuvamba (vamping or strumming of a few basic chords in the marabi tradition) and ukupika (picking), the later being more desired for its technical prowess. By some accounts the picking tradition may have come from the north meaning the southern regions of Zimbabwe (then Southern Rhodesia) or Mozambique, though Allingham also points to picking styles (in the case of John Bhengu) originating from the Umkomaas region of southern KwaZulu Natal.

Josaya Hadebe from Makwenda's book*

Both David Coplan and Joyce Makwenda point to the Ndebele (with its close roots to Zulu) styles in southern Zimbabwe, notably Bulawayo, as an early significant influence on maskanda with artists such as Josaya Hadebe, George Sibanda and Sabelo Mathe. Makwenda, in her book Zimbabwe Township Music*, actually credits Hadebe, as having introduced the ukuvamba (vamping) style in the late 1940s when he would come to South African towns, and draw huge crowds while busking on street corners. Both Hadebe and Sibanda recorded each fifteen (royalty-free) tracks for Gallo in 1948* through Hugh Tracy’s African Music Research (AMR) unit. (*The 15 tracks may have been recorded from 1948-1952. Jonathan Ward's new compilation, Opika Pende, features a track by Hadebe. Also check out Hadebe in the SAMAP archive.)

Interestingly these Bulawayo guitarists were referred to as omasiganda and had a distinctive country western influence modeled after the singing cowboy in American films of the time. Omisaganga like maskanda is derived from the Afrikaans musikant. The omisaganda were one-man band troubadours strolling the township streets of Bulawayo, basically busking for money. Often they were in demand as entertainers at functions such as “tea-parties”, shebeens or at venues like the Stanley Hall built in 1935.

That said, perhaps the tracks in the Maskanda Roots mix below might suggest other histories. There are a number of guitar tunes which predate the 1948 Hadebe/Sibanda sessions. Notably the tracks by Phineas Maphumulo's Guitar Twins from around 1942 that reveal a familiar maskanda tradition already set with both picking and vamping. Of course, on the other hand, recording dates cannot be a determinant of how culture moves.

Another interesting detail comes from Judy Kendall and Banning Eyre in their chapter on Zimbabwe music in the "Rough Guide”. They suggest that George Sibanda was so popular in the 1950s that he is credited as influencing the seminal Congolese guitarist Jean Bosco Mwenda, who "by mere coincidence" was also recorded by Hugh Tracey.

John Bhengu as Phuzushukela from his last LP, 1982

Josaya Hadebe is said to have been an influence on John Bhengu who, with his distinctive finger-picking style, is responsible for the popularization of maskanda in South Africa. As Rob Allingham reveals, Bhengu started out as a street performer in Durban in the late 1940s and began recording with Troubadour around 1955. Interesting side note: Cuthbert Matumba, talent scout and producer for Troubadour, is also featured in this mix as part of the Zoutspanburg Bothers. After Mathumba’s death Bhengu moved to Trutone in 1968 and then worked for a short period with producer Cambridge Matiwane, who may have been instrumental in getting him to perform with a backing band, a notable departure for maskanda music. These recordings were also his first to use the name Phuzushukela (or Sugar Drinker) and the rest is history!

As Phuzushukela, Bhengu moved to GRC in 1971, where producer Hamilton Nzimande electrified his sound. The combination of traditional maskanda with the heavy bass lines of mbaqanga produced a product that was irresistible and a formulae that remained for the next 30 years.

Structurally maskanda songs usually consists of four parts: a) the intela or izihlabo, an improvised instrumental introduction; b) a repetitive vocal chorus where all sing in harmony; c) a vocal narrative where the lead tells a story; and d) the ukubonga, where an interjection of praise, usually for the musicians or their family, is rapidly announced.

For this Maskanda Roots mix I have tried to assemble 78 rpms that reflect one or more of these maskanda parts. The tracks are presented more or less chronologically to illustrate the history. Many of the early examples do not include instrumentation and may not be considered “maskanda” in a strict definition (for example the tracks by James Stuart, Simon Sibiya and the ngoma "War Dancers") but I included them if they featured elements such as the ukubonga or praise interjection. With the unaccompanied vocal tracks one can almost ‘hear’ a guitar or concertina overlay in the minds-ear. Also a significant aspect of this research that is missing are translations of the lyrics. Without that, a major part of the context of the music is lost. Perhaps with time and more research this will be remedied.

Pointers for additional maskanda music: The most well known international proponents of maskanda are probably Johnny Clegg and Sipho Mchunu and their band Juluka who performed and recorded extensively in the 1980s. Also Shiyani Ngcobo featured on the African Guitar Legends LP mentioned above. As far as more 'local' practioners of the style go, I would recommend the first three CDs by Phuzukhemisi (not to be confused with Phuzushukela), Mfaz' Omnyama, Skeleton and Vusi Ximba. Also aspects of the maskanda tradition have crept into contemporary music styles such as hip-hop in South Africa. Check out Zuluboy and his brand of "skandi-hop".

For a more historical perspective I highly recommend Rob Allingham’s excellent CD Singing in an Open Space — Zulu Rhythm and Harmony 1962 – 1982 a well documented compilation that traces the music from Bhengu through to the 1980s. Also Squashbox, a CD compilation by Harry Scurfield of concertina-based maskanda is horribly out of print but is available, used, at a serious premium on Amazon.

For a rougher, more 'street', maskanda, I recommend Gumboot Guitar published by the British Library and the Street Sounds of Durban, though I suspect the latter to be almost impossible to find.

Finally, putting this compilation together was a real pleasure! Trying to edit down the number of great tracks though was a bit more difficult. For that reason I decided to split the compilation into two volumes. Volume 1 features the really early material from 1927 - 1952, while volume 2 focusses on tracks from 1954 - 1964. There is no significance to the date periods, it just seemed logical to split the tracks at those points. In theory, Rob Allinghams's Singing in an Open Space would take you from 1962 - 1982.

Enjoy!



MASKANDA ROOTS
Volume 1: 1927 – 1952
(flatinternational / Electric Jive, FXEJ 2)

Perhaps there is some irony in starting a mix of Zulu-based maskanda with a British-born language specialist - maybe the term "Le Zulu Blanc" might apply here. James Stuart recorded at least 24 tracks for Zonophone starting in 1927. All were issued in 1928 and then a further set was recorded and issued in 1930. These were primarily 'eulogies' and versions of Aesop's Fables in Zulu. The 'eulogies' are actually izibongo or praise songs dedicated to leaders like Shaka and Dingaan. The izibongo tradition continues today in South Africa. As far as I can tell, the track featured here is not an izibongo but the cyclical / repetitive structure of the song reminded me of tracks below for example those by The Zulu Minstrel. Simon Sibiya also recorded for Zonophone at least 18 tracks in 1929. As with Stuart the tracts feature a similar structure, though in his examples Sibiya includes the ukubonga or praise interjection so familiar in many maskanda songs. I am assuming both Sibiya and Stuart were recorded in London. Check out John H. Cowley's excellent text, uBungca, which was invaluable in dating these records.

01) JAMES STUART – Wa Tint’ Amankengane! - 1927
(Zonophone, serial 4184, UK)
02) SIMON SIBIYA – Tina Si Nga Ba Sembawuleni - 1929
(Zonophone, serial 4201, UK)
03) SIMON SIBIYA – Udhlule Lap’ Unkonkoni - 1929
(Zonophone, serial 4201, UK)
04) SIMON SIBIYA – UTshaka Ka Sitshayeki - 1929
(Zonophone, serial 4202, UK)

In the first issue of the African Music Society Newsletter (June 1948) Hugh Tracey refers to Mameyigudi as being one of the best-known ndhlamu dance leaders in Durban. The track features a call-and-responce structure though unlike his other recordings does not include drumming. The remaining four Columbia tracks by the "Zululand War Dancers" are examples of ndhlamu dance — often featuring the ngoma drum or sometimes clapping. Tracey refers to these specific tracks in the same newsletter and points out that they are not "war dancers" and that the drum is not a "tom-tom". Columbia had sent a mobile unit to South Africa and there is a good possibility that Tracey may have been involved in the recording of these tracks somewhere between 1930 and January 1933 when they were issued. The recordings are particularly good and there is a slight echo which gives them an almost haunting quality.

05) MAMEYEGUDI AND HIS DANCERS – Sipit ‘Umagazini - c1932
(HMV, GU 84, UK)
06) ZULULAND WAR DANCERS – Ha! Uyamqala Okandaba - c1932
(Columbia, AE 70, UK)
07) ZULULAND WAR DANCERS – Intombi Etengwa Ngemali - c1932
(Columbia, AE 71, UK)
08) ZULULAND WAR DANCERS – Usogaya - c1932
(Columbia, AE 72, UK)
09) ZULULAND WAR DANCERS – Unomatusi Uyeyisa - c1932
(Columbia, AE 105, UK)

To my ear, these two tracks by Nomathenisi (The Zulu Minstrel) are the first in the archive that sound like "maskanda", with a single repetitive voice accompanied by concertina. The beautiful yet lugubrious Ngiyoyilo Bola Ngami is featured in Hugh Tracey's book, Lalela Zulu, a collection of 100 Zulu songs. According to Tracey it is a "man's song for singing along the road" and the lyrics go: "With what will I wed her? There are no cattle. With what will I wed her?" Isaac Mzobe's Crocodile Male Voice Choir was one of the very early isicathamiya groups performing in Natal. Like the previous tracks, Sasingaxabene also features a concertina though one played in manner far closer to the Afrikaans tradition. For more on this disc check out flatinternational.

10) THE ZULU MINSTREL – Ngiyoyilo Bola Ngani - c1932
(HMV, GU 84, UK)
11) THE ZULU MINSTREL – Zinuk Abafazi - c1932
(HMV, GU 93, UK)
12) CROCODILE MALE VOICE CHOIR – Sasingaxabene - 1939
(Better, XU 13, UK)

These tracks by Phineas Maphumulo's Guitar Twins are the first "maskanda" tunes in the archive to feature the guitar. Recorded roughly around 1942 they reveal the familiar maskanda guitar tradition already set including both picking and vamping. Though the recording was made in the early 1940s, Rob Allingham maintains that the disc was only issued in 1948. Also check the difference between Maphumulo's early version of U Josephine and a later 1964 version by Mandlakayise Mkize at the end of Volume 2. This set also includes two brilliant tracks by Zimbabwe omasiganga George Sibanda who was a major influence on the guitar picking style in the late 1940s. Alas the shellac here has seen better days, but the sparkle of the picking still shines through. In Hugh Tracey's Gallotone catalogue from 1951 he refers to Umfazi We Poyisa Usegqoka Amalube as a "topical song" where the translation is: "A policeman's wife wears roses", while the b-side is "We have been found guilty". The Herman Magwaza track is one of my favorites and is the only one to come from a 10" 33rpm LP record, issued by London in the UK and Decca in the USA. Zulu Music and Songs was probably one of the first vinyl issues to feature black South African music worldwide. The record was issued in 1951 so I am assuming the track was recorded somewhere in 1950, but it could have be even earlier.

13) THE GUITAR TWINS – Ngaqa - c1942
(Singer Gallotone, GE 955, UK)
14) THE GUITAR TWINS – U Josephine - c1942
(Singer Gallotone, GE 955, UK)
15) PETRUS MTAMBO AND HIS ORCH. – Gugu Lami - c1947
(Gallotone, GB 987, RSA)
16) PETRUS MTAMBO AND HIS ORCH. – c1947
Mntana Owomuntu (Gallotone, GB 987, RSA)
17) CASPAR SHIKI & HIS GUITAR – S’Ooliwa - c1948
(Trutone, XU 144, RSA)
18) CASPAR SHIKI & HIS GUITAR – Umtandaso - c1948
(Trutone, XU 144, RSA)
19) GEORGE SIBANDA – Umfazi We Poyisa - 1948
(Gallotone, GE 1160, RSA)
20) GEORGE SIBANDA – Sabashwa Thina Ngendaba - 1948
(Gallotone, GE 1160, RSA)
21) HERMAN MAGWAZA & CALEBCHAMANE SONGS – New Look Thanagan - c1950
(London, LPB 431, UK)

As mentioned earlier, the Zoutpansburg brother included Cuthbert Matumba who would go on to be a formidable producer at Troubadour records and establish a catalogue that easily rivaled Gallo's in the 1960s. Alas, he died in 1965 and by 1968 the company had been consumed by Gallo. The label reveals the style to be "Shangaan Guitar Picking" and the track is interestingly monotonous. Cowboy Superman, if anything, reveals the country western influence on this guitar based music where the singer yodels while strumming. I have often wondered what marabi must have sounded like and in the case of the Nyakaza Merrymakers this might have been close to it. Funnily enough the second track is called Marabi, but its the first track that comes closest for me. Umame is also intersting in that it feature the violin, the first in this mix to do so. The track Marabi on the other hand is particularly unusual in that it features an electric guitar, which must be a unique for the time. While this proto-rock tune, in places, almost suggests aspects of an electrified maskanda it probably has more in common with the mbaganga future that would follow a decade later. But still an electrified instrument around 1952 feels way before its time in this context. Perhaps this would be a good question for Nick Lotay.

22) ZOUTPANSBURG BROTHERS – Hosi Yahina Masia - 1951
(Bantu Batho, BB 753, RSA)
23) COWBOY SUPERMAN – Bayakala Abazali - 1951
(Bantu Bathu, BB 100, RSA)
24) NYAKAZA MERRYMAKERS – Umame - c1952
(Gallotone, GB 1616, RSA)
25) DAN SHABANE WITH NYAKAZA MERRYMAKERS – Marabi - c1952
(Gallotone, GB 1616, RSA)




MASKANDA ROOTS
Volume 2: 1954 – 1964
(flatinternational / Electric Jive, FXEJ 3)

01) PETROS MTAMBO – Yangithela Manga - 1954
(Gallotone, GB 1987, RSA)
02) PETROS MTAMBO – Ngi Kalela Bazali - 1954
(Gallotone, GB 1987, RSA)
03) SIDNEY MKIZE – Bengi Kuthanda - 1954
(Gallotone, GB 2088, RSA)
04) SIDNEY MKIZE – Ngiphoxwe Umuntu - 1954
(Gallotone, GB 2088, RSA)

05) COWBOY NDLOVU – Baba Noma - c1955
(Philips, SB 43, NED)
06) COWBOY NDLOVU – Nga Hlupheka - c1955
(Philips, SB 43, NED)
07) STAR COUSINS – Buya Wena - 1956
(Gallotone Jive Jive, GB 2419, RSA)
08) SAMPLE SIXOGO – Kangaka - 1956
(Gallotone, GB 2550, RSA)
09) MAHLAUTINI LUTHULI – Ngenke Ngiye - 1958
(Troubadour, BZ 1448, RSA) *from Squashbox

10) JOHN HLOPHE & CO – Amakokombane - c1958
(Envee, NV 3199, RSA)
11) ENOCH MAHLOBO – Ntombani Okal’ Ugijima - 1959
(Gallotone, GB 2851, RSA)
12) ENOCH MAHLOBO - We Mzodwa - 1959
(Gallotone, GB 2851, RSA)
13) CAMERON MTETWA – Malume Jamlude - 1959
(Gallotone, GB 3097, RSA)
14) CAMERON MTETWA – Osishaya Amapondo - 1959
(Gallotone, GB 3097, RSA)

15) L. MAHLOBO – Isoka Lajika - c1959
(Tropik, DC 803, RSA)
16) PAUL KHAMBULA – Maphephuka - 1961
(Gallotone, GB 3299, RSA)

17) MAHLAUTHINI LUTHULI – iZulu Eliphezulu - 1962
(Winner, OK 404, RSA)
18) BACA BOYS – Ngiyamqoma - 1962
(Zonk, TV 5006, RSA)
19) BACA BOYS – O’ Stchuzi - 1962
(Zonk, TV 5006, RSA)

20) JOHN BHENGU – Diki Diki - c1962
(Troubadour, BZ 1628, RSA) *from Singing in an Open Space
21) CAMERON MTEMBU & HIS FRIENDS – Johava - 1963
(USA, USA 265, RSA)
22) CAMERON MTEMBU & HIS FRIENDS – Ntosombane - 1963
(USA, USA 265, RSA)
23) MANDLAKAYISE MKIZE – Izinombizakithi - 1964
(Gallotone, GB 3595, RSA)
24) MANDLAKAYISE MKIZE – Ujosifina - 1964
(Gallotone, GB 3595, RSA)
25) MCHUNU AND MTSOMI – Sebenza Egoli - c1964
(Gumba Gumba, MGG 34, RSA)

Born to Lose

Another wonderful excursion into seventies stageshow soundtracks with an impressive line-up that includes Dennis Mpale, Duke Makasi, Temba Koyana, Bucs Gongco, Zulu Bidi, Max Diamond and Bingo Mbonjeni. Produced by Cambridge Baba Matiwane. Soloists are Tandi Seoka, Zodwa Dlamini, Japan Fassi and Beulah Hashe.

Bucs Gcongo Langa Community Hall 1971 Pic: Ian B. Huntley



Enjoy this music treat!

MF

Classic Mbaqanga Girl Groups! - A Special EJ Mix

Continuing the mbaqanga theme (if you haven't already, see Chris Albertyn’s excellent post featuring, among others, West Nkosi, Reggie Msomi, the Mthunzini Girls, and a jive-tastic Nick Moyake), Electric Jive today presents another "EJ mix" of classic mbaqanga material – featuring tunes from some of the great female mbaqanga groups of the 1960s and the 1970s.

In the mix, we spotlight some well-known groups and vocalists. Here are a few insights into the artists that form the basis of today’s special posting.

Top of the list here at EJ is undoubtedly the Mahotella Queens (who also recorded as Soweto Stars, Izintombi Zo Mgqashiyo, Mahlokohloko Stars, Sweet Home Dames, and Dima Sisters), whose signature vocal and dance styles put them on the road to stardom during the mid-to-late 1960s. Backed by the Makhona Tsohle Band and fronted most of the time by their king, Simon “Mahlathini” Nkabinde, the Queens ruled supreme from 1964 until the late 1970s, when female groups – along with the popularity of mbaqanga generally – began to wane. More than thirty female singers have at one time constituted the line-up of the Mahotella Queens, though their stage appearances have never featured more than six ladies at a time. The more notable members over the years have included sopranos Hilda Tloubatla, Nunu Maseko, Emily Zwane and Thandi Nkosi, altos Juliet Mazamisa, Nobesuthu Shawe and Windy Sibeko, and tenors Mildred Mangxola and Caroline Kapentar among many others. The current line-up of the Queens contains three of the original 1960s team, and they continue to draw big audiences (particularly in Europe) to this day. See here for a much fuller history of the Queens, get the first Queens LP here, and see here for a special EJ mix devoted to Mahlathini.

Of equally significant importance is Izintombi Zesi Manje Manje, who were formed in 1967 as a rival team to the Queens. By the time Izintombi was formed, the Queens had set in stone their unique styling and were the yardstick by which other female mbaqanga groups were measured. But with a line-up that included – at various points – Sannah Mnguni, Nunu Maseko, Thoko Khumalo, Jane Dlamini, Nobesuthu Shawe and Lindiwe Mthembu – it wasn’t easy for the Mahotella Queens of the 1970s to keep up with Izintombi! The classic live line-up of the early 1970s was the trio of Jane Dlamini, Lindiwe Mthembu and Nobesuthu Shawe (stood on the stage in that order), but the recording line-up also featured Ruth Mafuxwana and Hilda Tloubatla in prominent voice. Izintombi Zesi Manje Manje members also recorded under the name S’Modern Girls. Along with the Mahotella Queens, Izintombi found it hard going to sustain their popularity into the 1980s, even with a revised sound. Two mushroomings of the original group still exist to this day but only on very small, local scales. Here is a collection of some of Izintombi’s best 1960s material, and here is a share of one of their late 1970s albums.

Julia Yende’s strong vocal talent rose her to the top. She started first with the Dark City Sisters in the early 1960s, and then in the Mahotella Queens from 1966. Her talent earned her the love of king Mahlathini and then, following a brief spell in the Queens recording and touring line-ups, a group of her own: the Mthunzini Girls (previously one of the loose pseudonyms used for the Queens).

Mthunzini Girls usually comprised Yende alongside Windy Sibeko, Thoko Mdlalose, Virginia Teffo and Teddy Nkutha in their 1960s heyday, but by the early 1970s, opened up to include Olive Masinga, Phyllis Zwane and Irene Mawela. Some of the more junior Mthunzini Girls members also recorded under the name Izingane Zo Mgqashiyo. Another notable group who also recorded under the Izingane Zo Mgqashiyo name is Izintombi Zomoya, featuring (most notably) Thandi Nkosi, Caroline Kapentar, Beatrice Ngcobo, Constance Ngema and Eunice Kwekwe – some of whom became talented enough to rise through the ranks and join the Mahotella Queens frontline in the late 1970s and early 1980s. See here for an excellent 1973 Izintombi Zomoya album.

By all means a first-rate act, the one and only Dark City Sisters were a vital part of the mbaqanga girl group scene of the 1960s. Formed in 1958 and quickly becoming South Africa’s most popular female group of the early ‘60s, the Sisters were at the forefront of the shift from the old marabi swing rhythms to the harder, sturdier and yet more traditional jive sound of the 1960s. At the helm of the group in spite of an ever-changing line-up was the sweet-voiced Joyce Mogatusi. Various groupings of the Sisters also recorded as the Killingstone Stars and the Flying Jazz Queens. Some of the most significant voices to grace the Sisters throughout the years aside from the great Mogatusi include Nunu Maseko, Esther Khoza, Grace Msika, Audrey Zwane, Doris Ntuli and Emily Zwane. After the formation of the Mahotella Queens and subsequent growth of Izintombi Zesi Manje Manje, the Sisters were forced to update their soft styling to the new, tough mbaqanga. The Sisters remained popular and active, but in the shadow of these new, younger groups. After a brief split in 1971, the group returned with Joyce at the helm in 1973.

The Sisters continued to record and perform until the early 1980s when they again split up. They were back again by the end of the decade, though, and recorded a comeback album in 1994 (which we hope to share with EJ readers sometime soon). The Sisters are still around in one form or another today, featuring the magic duo of Joyce Mogatusi and Grace Moeketsi (formerly Msika) – both of them still golden voices in their golden years. Here is a classic album of their very early (1960 – 1962) material.

Irene Mawela was seventeen years of age when Rupert Bopape saw her singing at a wedding in Limpopo. Impressed with her sweet, saccharine vocals, Bopape quickly brought her to Johannesburg (one assumes with Irene’s parents’ permission!) and so she began a lengthy career as a studio singer: first with Bopape at EMI (and in such legendary line-ups as the Dark City Sisters and the Killingstone Stars), then with Cuthbert Matumba at Troubadour, then under Daniel Makhubela at Trutone, and finally back with Bopape at Gallo’s Mavuthela in 1969. At the company she began recording with a small session quintet under the names Irene and the Sweet Melodians, and the Mgababa Queens. She also recorded her instantly recognisable voice onto hits by the Mthunzini Girls and Izintombi Zomoya, the lower-tier girl group line-ups. Bopape and Mawela grew close and, by the mid-1970s, were man and wife. Further into the 1970s, Bopape and Mawela began working together more closely in the studio – writing together and later on singing together. Mawela graduated up into the line-up of the Mahotella Queens around 1978, where she stayed for a few years before launching her own solo career.

Lastly, The Queens (not the Mahotella Queens!) were the tight band of female singers who backed Mahlathini at Satbel Record Company (from 1972 to 1977) and EMI (1978 to c. 1980). When Mahlathini left Gallo-Mavuthela in 1972, some of the Mahotella members followed him, creating the newly-formed The Queens. Most notably Mildred Mangxola (the leader of The Queens), Jane Makhanya, Nunu Maseko and Thoko Nontsontwa. The other singers included Paulina Zulu, Jane Twala, Belinda Sithole and Agnes Mhlauli. Although they primarily served as Mahlathini’s backing group, they sometimes recorded their own fantastic songs – two of the best are contained here.

The thirty wonderful tunes in this EJ mix were originally recorded between 1962 and 1977, at the height of mbaqanga's rule over the townships of South Africa. Tough guitar, pounding bass, growling basses, and sublime female close-harmony vocals. What more could one ask for?

Do yourself a favour... download this mix, listen to these fantastic grooves, and get ready to jive 'til you drop! YEBO!

Classic Mbaqanga Girl Groups!

1. THOKO - MAHOTELLA QUEENS (1964)

2. LALELA MNTANAMI - KILLINGSTONE STARS (1962)

3. UMKHWEKAZI - DARK CITY SISTERS (1962)

4. HAMBA PHEPHA LAMI - IZINTOMBI ZO MGQASHIYO (1967)

5. KHANYISANI ISIBANI - IZINTOMBI ZOMOYA (1973)

6. UMKHUMBI KA NOAH - IZINGANE ZO MGQASHIYO (1969)

7. ISINKWA NOBANANA - IZINTOMBI ZESI MANJE MANJE (1967)

8. SILANDELA UMGQASHIYO - MTHUNZINI GIRLS (1967)

9. MAKOMANE - DIMA SISTERS (1964)

10. WOZA MABALANE - MAHLOKOHLOKO STARS (1967)

11. UMAHLALA EHLATHINI - IZINTOMBI ZESI MANJE MANJE (1971)

12. HOLE THABA - DARK CITY SISTERS (1966)

13. EVELYN - KILLINGSTONE STARS (1962)

14. SPONONO - DARK CITY SISTERS (1967)

15. MMATHOBELA - MAHOTELLA QUEENS (1977)

16. IGAMA LAMI - IZINTOMBI ZOMOYA (1975)

17. REKENI KASE JUALEJUALE - S'MODERN GIRLS (1974)

18. MMADITABA - IRENE & THE SWEET MELODIANS (1975)

19. ISITIMELA - THE QUEENS (1976)

20. LETLAPA LABUTSOA - DARK CITY SISTERS (1974)

21. THAKA TSESO - IZINTOMBI ZOMOYA (1971)

22. DUMAZILE - SWEET HOME DAMES (1968)

23. ISALUKWAZI - IZINTOMBI ZESI MANJE MANJE (1967)

24. MMAMOKWANGTITI - DARK CITY SISTERS (1967)

25. AMAZONDO - MTHUNZINI GIRLS (1967)

26. NTSHWARELE NTATE - MAHOTELLA QUEENS (1975)

27. ZOLILE - THE QUEENS (1975)

28. AWUFUNI UKULANDELA NA? - S'MODERN GIRLS (1974)

29. EZOMCULO - DARK CITY SISTERS (1974)

30. SESHEGONG SAMELODI - DIMA SISTERS (1967)

RS / MF

Do you remember Nick Moyake?

Today we share some special early 78rpm mbaqanga from, amongst others, a South African jazz saxophonist whose star burnt bright and then went out all too early. One of our objectives here at Electric Jive is to grow and promote an accessible digital archive of great and otherwise unobtainable South African music.

It is always fantastic to learn of institutions committing resources to researching and documenting South Africa’s music history – and even more so when they are really reaching out to find people who may have information, pictures and stories that must be remembered and passed on. Do you remember Nick Moyake?  Do you know someone who has stories to tell of Nick? If so, then some intrepid researchers at the University of Fort Hare in East London want to connect with you.

Nick Moyake - (Pic from Kagablog - interview with Johnny Dyani)

Max Annas recently contacted me and we spoke of the exciting work he and Professor Gary Minkley (SARChI Chair in Social Change) from the University of Fort Hare in East London are doing. They have a research project going on the Blue Notes and are currently conducting interviews with musicians and family members in the Eastern Cape where five of the six members of the band grew up. At the moment there is a focus on the great saxophonist Nikele Moyake. Max says that “even if some musicians remember Nik Moyake well and some family members are still alive it is difficult to collect substantial information on him”. So Minkley and Annas are asking you, the readership of electricjive, for help, especially for discographic information on Nik Moyake and for photos showing him. If you can help, please contact Max Annas per email: mannas@ufh.ac.za

From our side on electric jive, we are very happy to oblige and share something different and rather special – Nick Moyake playing mbaqanga.  When I told Max of these records he was excited to tell me the story he had heard from Patrick Pasha about “the sparletta song”.

While playing with the Jazz Giants and other bands Moyake was also in demand as a session musician, and made regular trips from Port Elizabeth to Johannesburg to record. Patrick Pasha, bandleader from Port Elizabeth and Nik´s contemporary, said that Moyake made most of his money as an anonymous contributor to Mbaqanga recordings. He recounts an episode when Moyake was in Johannesburg to record music for a Sparletta radio advertisement. Back in Port Elizabeth Moyake later heard the song on the radio and angrily called the producer asking where his payment for the recording was. But the answer he got infuriated him even more: “We didn´t sign a contract!” was what the guy said. So Moyake never saw money for that tune.

The sparletta number five track shared here today is played by Moyake and a backing band, but the authorship is credited to Gibson Kente  – so, perhaps Nik got his own back and re-recorded the track a little later, or maybe this was a different version?  Do you know? The estimated date of these recordings is around 1962 or 1963. Gibson Kente was the producer at Big Beat Records. By 1964 Kente had left Big Beat - following his success with the musical Manana, the Jazz Prophet (yes Doug, another one to come).

Siemon's Flat International Site - here

Nik (Nikele) Moyake was born in the early 1930s on a farm in Addo in the Eastern Cape and moved to Port Elizabeth as a youth. In the 1950s he was one of the key figures of the local jazz scene with its roots in Walmer Township where he met and played together with alto and piano player Dudu Pukwana who grew up there. Both later played in Pukwana´s band The Jazz Giants in the early 1960s and won a prize at the Jabavu Jazz Festival in 1962 in Johannesburg.

From 1963 onwards both Nik Moyake and Dudu Pukwana were part of the final line-up of a band that only one year later left the country. Together with Chris McGregor (piano), Louis Moholo (drums), Mongezi Feza (trumpet) and Johnny Dyani (bass) the two sax players were The Blue Notes, one of the most exciting and most important bands to come from South Africa. After an invitation to the Antibes jazz festival in 1964 the band stayed in Europe where they luckily found work in Zurich. Moyake went with the band to Switzerland but soon returned home to Port Elizabeth where he played for some more years before he died, most likely in 1969.

Do you remember Nick Moyake? The Soul Giants certainly did! If you have not heard this great 1968 tribute album yet – do yourself a favour and give this page a visit and download the album.

There have been many lovers of African jazz who poured scorn on mbaqanga music as being the equivalent of fast-food and without any real substance. Whatever our opinions and tastes, mbaqanga was hugely popular among South Africa’s black urban working class in the 1960s and 1970s – with a seemingly endless stream of records being sold.

Nick Lotay has written extensively on these histories here and here and here and I encourage you to visit these if you are interested. In adding to the electric jive mbaqanga archive today a handful of tracks from 78rpm records are offered as a small window onto the early evolution of the music form.

We kick off with four 1963 tracks from West Nkosi, recorded at the Gallo Studio's just before Rupert Bopape turned everything upside down the following year with the establishment of Mavuthela Music. As described by Rob Allingham, this is still the older style mbaqanga derived from swing rhythms 2 'twinned' saxes with electric lead guitar.

If you listen to West Nkosi’s “Majikaduze Twist”  (dance closely twist) we can hear the echoes of kwela and the twist blending into early mbaqanga. Likewise, play a friend Reggie Msomi’s 1963 “Blue Ska” and ask her to place what is most definitely a ska song with an African take. The flip side, “Small Ngane” is a languid slide into what was to become mbaqanga proper in a few years’ time. You can find more of Reggie Msomi on electricjive here and here.

And we round off today’s offering with what can, in my opinion, be considered Mbaqanga “proper”. First off, The Mthunzini Girls on Motella from around 1966. Then, the Makhona Tsohle Band in 1967, Mavuthela Music's premier backing band with West Nkosi on sax and Joseph Makwela laying down irresistible base lines. For me the cherry is Mahlathini in his prime singing “Ngikhala Ngiya Baleka No2.” (I am crying in pain and running away).

Please, kick off your shoes, clear the furniture, and enjoy the heady melting pot of popular urban black South African music in the mid sixties.

Nick Moyake:
Meritone Big Beat BT299
a) Brown Sauce (Nick Moyake)
b) Shabaza (Nick Moyake)

Meritone Big Beat BT 400
a) Egg Shells (G. Kente)
b) Sparletta Number 5 (G. Kente)

All four tracks can be downloaded here: RS / MF

West Nkosi (all tracks composed by Nkosi)
Gallo USA 248
a) Zwelitsha
b) Majikaduze Twist

USA 269
a) Kathumba
b) Tshisa Mdala

Reggie Msomi
USA 277
a) Blue Ska (Msomi)
b) Small Ngane (Msomi)

Mthunzini Girls
Motella MO120
a) Moli (Julia Yende)
b) Gijima Mfana (R. Bopape, S. Piliso)

Makhona Tsohle Band
Motella MO139
Ngikhala Ngiya Baleka No. 2 (S. Nkabinde - Julia Yende)
Madula Shokeng Special (R. Bopape - W. Nkosi)

All ten tracks can be downloaded here RS / MF

Enjoy!

In the Driver's Seat with Almon Memela

One of the artists that we have featured a number of times is guitarist Almon Memela. These include the much hyped LP Funky Africa and the late sixties AM Stragglers LP. Aside from these outings we are unaware of any other full length excursions aside from some of his production work such as this French issued compilation from 1977 being shared today. Enjoy!

Various Artists - Highway Soul
1. Mississippi River - Izintombi Zodumo
2. Phata Twelve Part 1 - Almon's Jazz 8
3. Phata Twelve Part 2 - Almon's Jazz 8
4. New Year Sikiza - Almon's Jazz 8
5. The Best Lover - Almon's Jazz 8 and the Sweethearts
6. Fast Sikiza - Almon's Jazz 8
7. Touch and Go Part 1 - Abafana Bamaswazi
8. Touch and Go Part 2 - Abafana Bamaswazi
9. There You Are - Almon's Jazz 8 and the Sweethearts
10. Don't Ever Think of Leaving Me - Izintombi Zodumo
Produced by Almon Memela

NEW DOWNLOAD LINK HERE