Phillip Kakaza
Puffing cigarettes, gulping tots of whisky and uttering words of wisdom in preparation for some smooth, mellow music to be rendered by a four-piece band called Basadi was the order of a chilly evening at Kippies.
But the waiting was rather too long in a gloomy venue that breathes cold air up your trousers. More whisky? a waiter insisted. There is a promotion tonight youd better take some more while you wait, as if she knew that the waiting was going to last even longer. With the 30-minute sound-check session single tots would not do, so people kept on ordering more a and started chatting loudly. Few seemed to care what was happening on stage.
When are these women gonna play? asked a voice from the audience. Just then there was a bit of drama on stage band members came and went. Mabatho Masopha (flute/vocals) changed positions twice as the sound engineer struggled to get her microphone working. That loud-mouthed singer, Phinda Mtya, moved off stage as majestically as a queen of Africa. She mingled with the audience, laughing and joking.
Hannah Kantazi (violin) pulled faces at Mtya and shrugged her shoulders. Suddenly Lipalisa Lebabo (bass guitar) stroked a high note and started playing. Mtya rushed for the stage to take her position. Masopha tapped her foot and smiled at Kantazi.
Kantazi was ready for action, the violin on her shoulder held firmly by her chin. She sailed into melodic, high-pitched notes. Mtyas soulful voice contemplated the song Dorothy Masuku made famous, Rosie My Girl.
The audience was impressed and they applauded. The show had now started. The second song got the blues singer Tandi Klassen off her chair. She did the phata phata jive and later sang in tribute to Frank Sinatra. Her smooth voice, with the help of Basadi, had the audience on their feet. The late Chris Hanis wife Dimpho was moved by the performance and Sipho Hotstix Mabuse was touched by Masophas flute.
Basadi (Sotho for women) is South Africas first all-woman group to play Afro-fusion and jazz. Formed in October last year, it was Lebabos dream to form an all-woman band. When she met Masopha, her dream became a reality. It was fortunate that both of us shared the same dream, says Lebabo. It was then that we started to work together and later formed Basadi.
But why an all-woman group? Masopha simply says:There hasnt been one that I know of. And I think its cool to be a womens troupe. Masopha shares similar sentiments. The music industry has been dominated by men, who are often prejudiced against women. Some still believe that men can do a better job than women. We want them to unlearn that concept by giving them an example of a group that is making it to the top with hardly any help from men.
Theyve come across men in the music industry who did not believe they could play well. But it takes one hearing to prove they are good. At Kippies, no matter how disorganised they were and how long we waited, in the end they strutted their stuff brillantly.
Masopha says it takes hard work and commitment from all the groups members. And those members, although some have household duties to take care of, are committed to the group, and excited to be a part of it. Zoleka Duma (lead singer), a mother of three, says: My children are my music and music is my life. Music does not take me away from them much, and when it does my husband is always there for me. I spend quality time with them whenever Im home, talking and singing together.
Leboba is a single mother with two children. My career in music has helped me raise my children just like any other child, says Leboba. Fren Hilton-Smith (drummer) is also a soccer coach with Banyana Banyana, the South African womens national soccer team, currently in France.
When some of us are absent and we have to play a gig, we hire male instrumentalists to fill up the space. Its such a nice feeling to have a man under womens control, laughs Masopha.
Yet they strive to keep the group for women only. They are currently looking for a woman pianist.
We manage the group ourselves and organise our own gigs they are about to leave for Swaziland to do a gig at the Continental Jazz Club. At the end of the day it leaves us content that we are not dependent on anyone else but ourselves.