Philip Tabane-The Indigenous Afro-Jazz Sounds

These are the indigenous Afro-Jazz Sounds of The Genius,Philip Tabane-the original Malombo Jazzman.
It started in 1964,at Orlando Stadium,when Philip went on stage,leading his group-The Malombo Jazzmen.
On that Saturday afternoon,South Africa was staging it's third Jazz Festival.Philip and his group
walked away with all the honours.
Malombo Jazz-music was introduced for the first time that year.This group,started up as a trio
and consisted of Flute,Guitar and Drums.
Philip has now parted company with the other two members,and today he plays
alongside a youmg drummer by the name of Gabriel "Sonnyboy" Thobejane.
This young man is tremendously versatile and plays the Thumb Piano known as "Dipela" in Northen Sotho,and Drums.
On this LP Philip plays Guitar, Penny Whistle and Drums.Listen to the way Philip plays
the Penny Whistle and Drums on "Dithaberg".
His inherent feel and the knowledge of the instuments can quite obviously be heard.
Mastery to say the least!He sings about his sister's child on "Ke Utilwile",meaning "I've had Enough".
Sit back ,relax and absorb the vocal and instrumental artistry of Philip Tabane.

Ray Nkwe-president of the Jazz Appreciation Society of South Africa.
1969


Ke Utilwile

Mankunku forever

Geirge & I

Molo Africa


and before


*

M'Bube

Mbube:
a rich a cappella male choral approach usually sung in Zulu,appeared in the early 20th century as "Ingoni Ebusuku," meaning "night music."The similarity between early mbube and pre-quartet African-American gospel (jubilee) is astonishing,as are the vocalists' range,soaring harmonies,smashing leads, and swirling accompaniment.
Popular with Zulu and Swazi laborers,forged throughout the last century a strong working class identity. In 1938 one of the Ingoni Ebusuku groups,Solomon Linda's Original Evening Birds,recorded a song called "Mbube" (the lion,based on the tale of the return of Shaka), which became a model for the international hit "Wimoweh"(the Lion Sleeps Tonight),and since then this music has become known as Mbube.

"Although generally recognized as one of the most advanced forms of Zulu musical expressions,
mbube incorporates a rich texture of Western,Afro-American,traditional and modern stylistic sources. Reflecting upon the experience and struggles of migrant workers, mbube performers modeled these diverse idioms into a unique expression of Zulu working class identity.
The pre-history of mbube starts in the second half of the 19th century when American minstrel shows had become by far the most popular form of stage entertainment in the urban centers. For black audiences however,no visiting minstrel troupe created a deeper impression than Orpheus McAdoo's Minstrel Vaudeville and Concert Company. Between 1890 and 1898,McAdoo,one of the first noted Afro-Americans to visit S.A., made two phenomenally successful tours of the country that lasted for more than five years.
By the turn of the century in the wake of McAdoo's tours,minstrels had reached even remote rural areas, where mission school graduates formed troupes modeled on either McAdoo's company or on the numerous white blackface troupes and adopted names as AmaNigel Coons,Pirate Coons or Yellow Coons".....

from the record notes



A1- The Bantu Glee Singers - Jim Takata Kanjani
A2-Crocodiles - Hewu! Kwaqaqamba Amthambo
A3-Fear no Harm Choir-Ina Ma Wala
A4-African Zulu Male Voice Choir- Kuyekeleni Kukule
A5-Solomon Linda's Original Evening Birds - Mbube
A6- Solomon Linda and Evening Birds-Ngazula Emagumeni
A7- Solomon Linda and Evening Birds - Anoku Gonda
A8- Shooting Stars - Yek' Emarabini
B1-Morning Light Choir-Izindaba Ezinkulu Zxika"Kawa"
B2-Dundee Wandering Singers- Hamba Stutubaker
B3-Natal Champions-Ngi-e Kaya
B4- Crocodiles- Asigoduke
B5-Durban Crocodiles- Akasangibhaleli
B6-Scorpions- Cothoza-Mfana
B7-King Star Brothers- Mus' Ukuqubada
B8-Ladysmith Black Mambazo -Umama Lo

 shellacs to vinyl

Mbube Roots

In the 1920s, as an industrial economy began to develop in Natal (KwaZulu/Natal),a cappella vocal styles became closely identified with the emerging Zulu working class,
newly forged as rural migrants found employment in mines and factories. Forced in most cases to leave their families behind and live in all-male hostels, they developed a weekend social life based on vocal and dance group competitions, staged within and between hostels, and judged by elaborate rules and standards. By the late 1930s, a cappella competitions were a characteristic of Zulu hostels throughout industrial Natal and had also spread to Zulus working in Johannesburg.
Black workers were taken by rail to work far away from their homes and their families. Poorly housed, paid worse, and working a six-day week, they would entertain themselves by singing songs into the wee hours of Sunday morning. They called themselves Cothoza Mfana,”tip toe guys,” referring to the dance steps choreographed so as to not disturb the camp security guards. When the miners returned to their homelands, the tradition returned with them.There began a fierce, but social, competition held regularly that became a highlight of everyone’s social calendar.


A1-N.K.A.Special-HAMBA NJALO
A2-Durban High Stars-AWUNGANGI DLULI JESU
A3-Easy Wakers-Oh yes is coming
A4-Greytown Evening Birds-NISIBONA SILAPHA SIPHUMA SIPHUMA KUDE
B1-Rovers-WATHINTHA THINA
B2-Harding Morning Stars-ITHEMBA LAMI
B3-Mtalume Young Ages-HAMBA HAMBA
B4-Mkhizwane Home Stars-SANIBONANI
B5-Jabula Home Defenders-OBABA BAFUN IMALI

HAMBA HAMBA NJALO
BALEKA WENA MFO WETHU
KAD'AHAMBA
HAMBA HAMBA NJALO
GOB'IKHAYA LAKHO
ALIKHO LAPHA LISE MTHALENI
BALEKA WENA MFO WETHU

Run,my brother
and go your own way
Your home is not here in the city.
Your home is
as far away as the stars
Run my brother.

a live recording at the Dalton Road Hostel-Durban S.A. - 1984

Mbube Competition

Freedom

two (of the infinite) aspects of freedom

Freedom Yes!

Apartheid No! 

Guitar  Lucky Ranku
Piano Cecil Barnard
Bass  Steve Sgodini Scipio, Victor Ntoni
Malombo Drums  Julian Sebothane Bahula -and here 
Drums, Percussion  Babafumi Akunyun

Flute, Alto Saxophone Mike Mathome Rose 

Vocals Pinise Saul, Samora Hlatshwayo, Selaelo Maredi, 
Seth Sibanda, Sipo Mzimela, Thembi Mtshali 

Recorded live at Konserthuset, Stockholm, 18/2/1979

 & Freedom Sounds 

Leader ,Drums (1st Repeater) & vocals Ras Michael (Testa Zion)
Bass  Paul Drysdale (Paulie)
Bass Drum  Ras Martin (I Marts)
Drums (1st Founder)  Alvin Hewitt (I Jack)
Guitar(Lead)  Chinna
Guitar (Solo)  Bro Clarence
Guitar (2nd Guitar) Bro Rupert Mc Farlane
Harmony Voices  Brother Leroy, Brother Thomas (Jat)

Yarona

today was (another) revisiting Abdullah Ibrahim day for me
it's been (already)20 earth years since this  marvel  came out

Yarona

plus

wonders enough to last an eternity

one

two

three

four

five

six

seven

eight

Hanba Kahle Tata Madiba

"During the past few days as the world has reflected on the life of President Nelson Rolihlala Mandela, these ordinary South Africans have been largely absent from the media accounts. We have witnessed a rapid re-writing of history where the struggle spearheaded by the mass democratic movement that marched past my classroom has been collapsed into the special personal determination and charisma of one great man and, at most, a small circle of people around him.
Having spent six and a half years in prison myself, I have the highest regard for Madiba. But he did not take his long walk to freedom alone, nor did he succeed because of some American-style rugged individualism. Madiba was a product of his traditional Xhosa community in the Eastern Cape. He was also a product of a hateful apartheid system that propelled him to envision a loving, inclusive alternative. But most importantly, Madiba was a product of some of the most profound social movements of the 20th century. From the ANC Youth League of the 1940s all the way through to the United Democratic Front and the Mass Democratic Movement of the 1980s, he was surrounded by thousands of people grappling with the complexities of changing a hateful system and constructing a society based on participatory democracy and sharing of wealth. That long road to freedom which Madiba walked was a crowded highway bursting with masses of creative, energetic, dedicated and vastly intelligent people. Madiba drew on their strengths to rise to his special heights. So when we remember him let us not swallow the iconized version of an African giant, but instead keep in mind all those who walked that road with him, without whom he never could have undertaken the journey.."

 via  Africa is a Country 

and my small selection of

Songs for  Mandela

01-Rolihlahla

02-Sipho Mabuse - Nelson Mandela

03-Salif Keita-Mandela

04-Jalikunda Cissokho-Nelson Mandela

05-Youssou N'Dour - Nelson Mandela

06-Toyi Toyi

07-Shoskoloza Mandela

08- Souleymane Faye-God Bless Mandela

09-Koko Ateba - Nelson Mandela (will never give up)

10-Omar Pene-Mandela

11-Lovemore Majaivana & the Zulu Band-Prayer for Mandela

12-Abdullah Ibrahim-Mandela

13-Makwayela LAM - Ghogho Mandela

14-Miriam Makeba-Mbube

Let Freedom Reign...

Tshona!

...And now in Johannesburg and armed with “tunes from God" he started attending jam sessions at Dorkay House where he jammed with the likes of Chris McGregor and others who later left for exile. It was in fact McGregor who, during these jam sessions, came to Pat and pointed out to him the singularity of his style on piano. McGregor told Pat that there was a man who wants him to come and play at his place. A baffled Pat then enquired from Chris how possible that was, seeing that he (McGregor) was a pianist himself “No" McGregor answered immediately, “the guy says he wants you. He wants you alone. He likes your style."

If there is ever any proof that Pat Matshikiza had carved for himself a distinct sound on the piano, this is it. And long after the Jazz Dazzlers had disbanded, and Chris McGregor and others had left for exile, Matshikiza stayed on playing almost all over the country for almost every and anybody. He entered jazz competitions and won prizes that sometimes lured him overseas but he miraculously refused to leave and preferred to play in South Africa. Like Winston ‘Mankunku' Ngozi he formed a bridge between time and space by keeping the home fires burning, but sadly he never had the fortune to exhibit in a very significant way the majesty of the sound that he so obviously possesses. He ended up playing in hotels and such places and gigs that hardly denote the maestro in him. At best he became an evasive legend whose musical voice spoke louder than his persona in the annals of the South African jazz discography....

Pat Matshikiza

&Kippie Moketsi

but when  giants met:

Pat Matshikiza -piano
Kippie Moketsi -Alto Saxophone

Basil ‘Mannenberg’ Coetzee -Tenor Saxophone
Sipho Mabuse -Drums
Alec Khaoli -Bass
Dennis Phillips -Alto Sax on Tshona

Rashid Vally produced in 1975

Get on to it or in xhosa :
Tshona!

Madosini Latozi Mpahleni

Latozi Mpahleni better known as Madosini was born in 1922 in the Eastern Cape Province. She has, since she was recorded for the first time in the late 1970 become famous as a specialist player of the Uhadi (music bow), Umrhubhe (mouth bow) and the Isitolotolo (jew’s harp). Madosini plays in the traditional styles of the amaMpondo but composes her own songs and music and has over the years participated in many a festival, both in SA and overseas.
Madosini, known in Mpondoland as ‘the Veteran’, has devoted her life to keeping alive the musical tradition of her people. Her music is unique not just in its scope but in the variety and range of feelings it evokes. A legend amongst her people also as a story teller, Madosini ought really be treated as a living national cultural treasure, instead she is known only to a select few. She has succeeded not only in preserving her culture, but also in being continuously creative in the unique style of traditional amaMpondo music...***

...  more to read

*****

Louis Moholo-Moholo-a South African Giant

He formed The Blue Notes with Chris McGregor, Johnny Dyani, Nikele Moyake, Mongezi Feza and Dudu Pukwana, and emigrated to Europe with them in 1964, eventually settling in London, where he formed part of a South African exile community that made an important contribution to British jazz.
He was a member of the Brotherhood of Breath, a big band comprising several South African exiles and leading musicians of the British free jazz scene in the seventies and is the founder of "Viva-La-Black" and the "The Dedication Orchestra."

His first album under his own name Spirits Rejoice on Ogun Records is considered a classic example of the combination of British and South-African players. In the early 1970s, Moholo was also member of the afro-rock band Assagai. he also founded the bands Viva La Black and The Dedication Orchestra.
Moholo has played with many musicians, including Derek Bailey, Steve Lacy, Evan Parker, Enrico Rava, Roswell Rudd, Irène Schweizer, Cecil Taylor, John Tchicai, Archie Shepp, Peter Brötzmann, Mike Osborne, Keith Tippett,Elton Dean and Harry Miller.
Moholo returned to South Africa in September 2005, performing with George Lewis at the UNYAZI Festival of Electronic Music in Johannesburg. He now goes under the name Louis Moholo-Moholo because the name is more ethnically authentic.

from wiki 

reading:

Louis Moholo-Moholo: when free jazz means freedom

"Music is the healing force of the universe. 
The political disease that was there needed music to heal it up"
LMM

listening again to

a South African Giant

--

gumboot guitar

the real  isicathulo  story ( in brief )

At the height of the migrant labour system and the oppressive apartheid pass laws, within the South African gold mines, laborers were forced to create their own forms of entertainment and communication. The strict laws at the time forbid the miners from talking to one another which led to them developing their own ‘Morse code’ inspired communication system of slapping their gumboots (Wellington boots), stomping their feet and rattling their chains, which restrained them to their work stations. From this came an entertainment, as the miners developed their percussive sounds and movements into a unique dance form and used it to entertain each other during their free time.
The racial separation of apartheid government meant that miners were separated from their families for long periods of time. The men would be taken chained into the mines and shackled at their cramped work stations in almost total darkness. They were forbidden to move around and punishment was enforced with physical abuse. Conditions were very poor; floors were often flooded with poor or non-existent drainage, which meant that they often suffered from skin ulcers, foot problems and consequently lost work time. The white bosses, rather than spend the money needed to properly drain the shafts, issued the workers with gumboots. Thus, the miner’s uniform was born; heavy black gumboots, jeans or overalls, bare chests (as temperatures would reach up to 40°C) and bandannas to absorb the eye-stinging sweat. To the miners, gumboot dancing was not only a method to communicate and entertain, but a method to survive.
It didn’t take long for the miners to attach lyrics to their newly found dance. The songs that were sung to go with the snappy movements dealt with working-class life − drinking, love, family and low wages. They would even sing about the cruel bosses and the despicable control they had over them. Quite amusingly the bosses were none the wiser as the workers sang in their own native languages. Even more amusing is that the mine bosses came to enjoy the deeply rhythmic resonances that mocked them and began to stage performances featuring the best of the gumboot dance troupes from the local mines. The dancers were used to entertain visitors and spread good PR by representing the company. From there it spread tribally and became popular throughout South Africa. Eventually it became a popular performance worldwide. By the end of apartheid it had evolved beyond communication into the fully fledged expressive art of the gumboot dance we know today.

from 

 Music previously played on Zulu musical bows was transferred in the new urban environment to the guitar and often concertina and violin too. the music was called maskanda. 

Musicians played for their own enjoyment, but they also joined miners’ gumboot dance teams to accompany this exhilarating genre. Often lacking in formal performance areas, most of this music-making traditionally takes place on the streets of single-sex hostel compounds. These recordings from 1988 and 1996 feature musicians and gumboot players who lived in one such hostel outside Durban.

“This is the real deal, street music played by people who work hard all day and play at night or on the weekend. The real roots of South Africa umbaquanga music are right here. There’s a variety of sound on Gumboot Guitar as far as instruments are concerned: on gumboot-dominated tunes, the guitar plays rhythmic chords with a very percussive attack. A pounding beat is also belted out by an accordion or concertina on most tunes…powerful.”Worlddiscoveries.net

the good recordings are by Janet Topp Fargion & Albert Nene...

gumboot guitar

Stimela

There is a train that comes from Namibia and Malawi 

there is a train that comes from Zambia and Zimbabwe, 

There is a train that comes from Angola and Mozambique, 

From Lesotho, from Botswana, from Zwaziland, 

From all the hinterland of Southern and Central Africa. 

This train carries young and old, African men 

Who are conscripted to come and work on contract 

In the golden mineral mines of Johannesburg 

And its surrounding metropolis, sixteen hours or more a day 

For almost no pay. 

Deep, deep, deep down in the belly of the earth 

When they are digging and drilling that shiny mighty evasive stone, 

Or when they dish that mish mesh mush food 

into their iron plates with the iron shank. 

Or when they sit in their stinking, funky, filthy, 

Flea-ridden barracks and hostels. 

They think about the loved ones they may never see again 

Because they might have already been forcibly removed 

From where they last left them 

Or wantonly murdered in the dead of night 

By roving, marauding gangs of no particular origin, 

We are told. they think about their lands, their herds 

That were taken away from them 

With a gun, bomb, teargas and the cannon. 

And when they hear that Choo-Choo train 

They always curse, curse the coal train, 

The coal train that brought them to Johannesburg.

Hugh Masekela

Stimela


.

Philip Tabane and Malombo - Malombo

let's venture into this new year with a very special guest
beloved guitar sangoma-healer and Artist (all with capital letters) Philip Tabane

that finally deserves  global acknowledgement in this life for his groundbreaking work
(visit the link below for discography)

Malombo the album is a remarkable journey of musical discovery 
with Philip Tabane uncovering both old and new worlds from deep within the unique
open-ended sound that is Malombo music 
In these eight songs he winds through ancient African melodies
and rhythms whilst using his electric guitar,flute and the dark hum of his voice
to endlessly refine the traditional sound for a contemporary audience.
However his sweeping improvisations
are locked into devastatingly simple African songs structures,
held together by the Malombo drums
carved from the roots of the baobab
and draped with cowhide....

from the back cover

Philip Tabane and Malombo - Malombo 
first released as Malombo from Kaya records-Kaya300-1984
this pressing  Kijima records  1988 

Malombo

Philip Tabane- guitar  vocals and flutes
Oupa Monareng -malombo drums
Fish Phale-assorted percussion
Thuli Tabane-additional vocals

with
Amos Lebombo bass
Alpheus Koloti additional flutes 
on Sangoma and Hi Congo

a discography at flatint

 xc

Spokes Mashiyane - King of Kwela - Penny Whistle Jive from Johannesburg 1958-1959

"Born twenty-six years ago, at Vlakfontein, Northern Transvaal, Spokes' days were very similar to those of every country-born African. As a toddler, he spent his days tending his father's cattle, and to while away the long hours, he tried his hand at the primitive African reed flute. This soon became his constant companion and his prowess made him popular with his young friends. The time came when rural life began to pall and Spokes made for the " big city "-Johannesburg.
It was as a domestic servant that Spokes became wise to city ways, and one of his first acquisitions was a genuine " Penny Whistle "-costing 4s. 6d.! Still much of a novelty, Africans in various parts of the country were experimenting with this new musical toy, and Spokes immediately became a popular guest at parties because he was able to produce a " new sound."
The design of the South African penny whistle is the same as that throughout the world, but, by placing the mouthpiece vertically against the inside of his left cheek and by introducing an entirely new fingering system, he was able to produce a roundness of tone hitherto unknown with this limited musical instrument.
It was while playing at an impromptu street-corner musical session, that Spokes was spotted by African talent scout Strike Vilakazi. Vilakazi, who has been responsible for the discovery of numerous African musicians, rushed Spokes to the studio for a test recording.

Since those early days, Spokes and the penny whistle have grown in stature. Mashiyane is appearing on the world's hit parades with numbers like "Jika Spokes," "French Fried" and "The Boys from Jo'burg." A far cry from the days of cattle herding and the reed flute!
This long-player carries a varied selection of Spokes' work-showing clearly why Mashiyane with his versatile and highly individualistic approach, has been crowned"

"King Kwela."
C.H.W.

from the notes of King Kwela via flatinternational

Spokes Mashiyane the man who found the inspiration for his tunes in his dreams
the true

King of Kwela

Kalahari 1

Abdullah Ibrahim's

Kalahari 

from Underground in Africa 1973 

Mankunku -Yakhal' Inkomo

There are recordings considered  as landmarks in Jazz  and jazz fans have their own milestones,

records and common names like A Love Supreme - John Coltrane

Out to Lunch - Eric Dolphy,Go - Dexter Gordon,Maiden Voyage - Herbie Hancock

The Blues and the Abstract Truth - Oliver Nelson ,Saxophone Colossus - Sonny Rollins

The Sidewinder - Lee Morgan,Monk's Dream - Thelonious Monk,The Shape of

Jazz to Come - Ornette Coleman,Kind of Blue - Miles Davis and the list goes..on and on ..

But me would certainly add among these heights a brave young man from South Africa,

that was just 23 when he recorded Yakhal' Inkomo:Winston "Mankunku" Ngozi.
---
Ah... at last it's done. I mean the recording of South Africa's number one tenor sax player, Winston "Mankunku" Ngozi. This is the LP that every jazz fan has been waiting for. Listen to it from side one to the last note on side two then you'll agree with me that this is jazz, dished out by the son of the soil in a soul/jazz bowl.>liners 

In an 2003 interview to Gwen Ansell, Mankunku said:

“Yakhal’ inKomo was an odd tune. Things were tough then – but don’t ask me about all of that,

I don’t want to discuss it. You had to have a pass; you got thrown out;

the police would stop you, you know? I was about 22.

I threw my pass away; wouldn’t carry it. We had it tough. I was always being arrested

and a lot of my friends and I thought it was so tough for black people and put that into the song.

So it was The Bellowing Bull: for the black man’s pain.

And a lot of people would come up to me and say quietly: “Don’t worry bra’.

We understand what you are playing about.”

“I once saw Mankunku Ngozi blowing his saxophone. Yakhal’inkomo.

His face was inflated like a balloon, it was wet with sweat, his eyes huge and red.

He grew tall, shrank, coiled into himself, uncoiled and the cry came out of his horn.

“That is the meaning of Yakhal’ inkomo.”

Mongane Wally Serote

(from the introduction to his collection of poetry entitled Yakhal’ inKomo,

published by Renoster Books in 1972)

more readings  in flatinternational and  wfmu


“He just went deep, right down to the floor of despair, and reached the rim of fear and hatred.
He just spread and spread out and out in meditation, with his horn, Mankunku, Ngozi,
that guy from the shores of South Africa, and he said: “That was it.”
For that is what he was doing with his horn, Yakhal’ inKomo…”

this reissue from 1996 combines two records Mankunku recorded within four months in 1968:

one with his own quartet (Yakhal Inkomo) and Spring with pianist Chris Schilder's quintet.

Mankunku Quartet(Yakhal' Inkomo) :

Winston "Mankunku" Ngozi: tenor saxophone

Lionel Pillay:piano

Agrippa Magwaza:bass

Early Mabuza:drums

Chris Schilder Quintet(Spring) :

Chris Schilder:piano

Winston "Maknunku" Ngozi:tenor saxophone

Garry Kriel: guitar

Phillip Schilder: bass

Gilbert Matthews:drums

record review

it was a spear for freedom then )  still is, now  :

Yakhal' Inkomo

Africa '68

While South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela has recorded scores of great records since the mid 1960s, one of his very finest achievements is this little-known triumph called Africa '68 (UNI).
This mysterious album was recorded in late 1967 between the trumpeter's Hugh Masekela Is Alive and Well at the Whiskey (UNI, 1967) and the career hit of "Grazing In The Grass" from The Promise Of A Future (UNI, 1968). The album bears no credit whatsoever except a promo sticker affixed to the front cover stating "Hugh Masekela Presents the Exciting Sounds of Africa And Its People" and descriptive liner notes from the trumpeter himself, who served as co-producer (with partner Stewart Levine) and - obviously, though not stated - musical director of this grand project of mbaqanga music.There are no musician credits on the record, but it's pretty obvious that Masekela - who probably served as musical director - is on trumpet, vocals, background vocals and probably many of the arrangements heard here too. Letta Mbulu obviously leads on many of the songs. And it's a safe bet that Jonas Gwangwa and Caiphus Semenya make significant contributions to the music too.
Truly bountiful, beautiful and beneficent, this music absolutely should be heard by anyone who likes or cares for the music of Hugh Masekela, Letta Mbulu, Caiphus Semenya or Jonas Gwangwa. It is among the best work any of these great artists have ever done.

from a lengthier review by Douglas Payne (thanks) 

and yes! he is not exaggerating at all ! 

bra Hugh's lost masterpiece

 

Africa '68