Q&A: Audrey Motaung
Matthew Krouse
Audrey Motaung is a well-recorded singer in Germany where she has lived for more than a decade. She is, however, virtually unknown in South Africa, having left in the early Seventies with Jo’Burg Hawk, by reputation the country’s first multicultural band. Last month she launched The Best of Audrey Motaung (Mountain Records), showcasing her adeptness at jazz and gospel singing, and including two new tracks.
When were you last at home?
Actually I was home last year. I was giving vocal lessons at Dorkay House, to the kids there. Dorkay House is the place where I grew up. That’s where I started doing most of my artistic activities. That was in 1971 and ’72. After working with Gibson Kente I went to Dorkay House. With Kente I was doing more acting than singing. We were sort of forced to sing, because Kente was doing musicals most of the time, although I preferred acting.
What were the plays about in those days?
The same old stories of Kente. I played a leading role in the play called Swi. It was about a young girl from the rural areas coming to the city and being confronted with city life and not really getting on well with all of it.
Did it feel like the story of your life?
It did. Because Johannesburg was for me like coming to a big town.
If somebody would have said to you, then, that this is what the future held for you what would you have said?
I wouldn’t have believed it at all. It was not in my mind. It was something that you wish to do, but something that never happens. Because in those days things weren’t really happening at home. The only thing that helped me to realise that things could happen was when I joined the group Jo’burg Hawk. That was the first multiracial rock group. We departed for London in 1973.
When you made your most recent trip to the country did you go back to the Northern Province where you’re from?
Yes. It was beautiful. It took me back to my infancy. I still yearn for the place.
But many of the bad things of the past have not changed in the outlying areas of South Africa. Were you aware of that?
I was very much aware of it. Things that haven’t changed, which we could have changed, are things like the educational system and the health system. The government should put more strength into development in the rural areas.
You’ve recently brought out an album of your greatest hits. Why now?
My record company decided to do this compilation to introduce my work to the South African audience. I was never sure whether anything would work out at home because I’ve been working in different fields of music, different arenas. So I didn’t think that my music would be understood or be accepted. It needed some time for me to make this decision.
You’ve sung a lot about reconciliation, getting over the colour barrier. Do you think that music can actually bring people together?
I always say that musicians are the ambassadors of heaven. We try to bring peace to the hearts of people through our music. And I think music can change a lot of things. People can use music as an instrument to bring about change.
Have you seen your music make a difference in people’s lives?
In Europe, wherever I’ve been, even today it still makes a difference. They love my music, they love the consciousness of my music.
You sing with a gospel message. Do you think that God can really solve the problems of the world?
God gave us the strength to solve our problems ourselves. We can only look up to Him to get some courage and strength for ourselves. I don’t think God alone can change our problems.
Did you compose all the songs yourself, or did you also sing some religious standards?
Half of them were composed by myself and my piano player and the rest are traditional hymns.
Describe your life in Hamburg today. How do you live?
Very hard. Very lonely. You’re alone. You don’t have a family. You just have your children and your husband and some friends.
Are you planning to return to the country, to live?
Definitely. I’m looking forward to it but I have to prepare it.
Is this album part of your preparation for that?
It is. I hope it works, to introduce me to my people, to find a home.
This week is South African Music Week. It focuses on some of the problems in our industry. Do you have any message for new or struggling musicians?
The artists at home, the ones who have made it, the older ones who have been there, who have settled, they should try to help the others, not just sit on their glory and say we are made, we are rich. You are rich if you can take the others with. It makes you much more wealthy than when you are just ego-tripping. That’s not what art is all about. We are making music, not war.
@CD REVIEWS
Tune in and turn on
South African Music Week provides a moment to evaluate what is good and bad in homespun sound. We listened to some new CDs
Beeskraal: Huis Toe (Woema) Imagine boeremusiek meets David Kramer and Valiant Swart. Throw in rock beats and guitars, and you have an idea of what this band is all about. With names like Jazz-Bees van Rensburg and Agterkwart Nell, the members certainly don’t hide their Afrikaner roots. Once you look past the boererock gimmick, though, it’s pretty plain sailing no earth-shattering tunes though. Riaan Wolmarans
Caffeine Substitute: For Medicinal Purposes Only (Swirl) A welcome full-length contribution from this experienced Durban five-piece outfit, who have been going strong since 1996, even after a few line-up changes. Meghan McRae’s vocals drift languidly over mostly acoustic, relaxed rock and there are creative (rather emotional) lyrics to admire. RW
Cutting Jade: So There We Were (Cutting Jade) A self-released debut full-length album from this Gauteng act. Included are the singles that have been doing well especially on campus radio stations since the band started out, as well as new tracks. She Says is the first single off this album (also included on the 5fm Showcase 3: Unearthed CD). It’s a smooth and simple collection of pop-rock with funky bits, even if it’s not the most creative album of the year. RW
Danny K: Danny K (Gallo) This is a well-produced debut collection of 14 R&B tracks that was nominated for a South African Music Award. The first single, Hurt so Bad, received considerable airplay and has led to a deal with Universal Records in the United Kingdom; the second, the funky You Don’t Know My Name, also did well. It’s solidly built R&B all the way through, with the added thrills of ragga and rap. There is also a kwaito mix with Speedy and Loyiso of TKZee Family. RW
Desert Rose: Sands of Time (Saville McLowe) A seriously beautiful album, one of the most refreshingly different to be released in South Africa in a while. Constructed using San musical instruments such as bows and rainsticks and samples, it’s a soul-soothing mix of tribal rhythms, Gregorian, Native American and Tibetan chanting, with vocalist, writer and composer Lynne Holmes’s voice sounding quite a bit like Levannah from QZoo. It’s Enigma, Mike Oldfield and all their ilk rolled into one. RW
Ishmael: Roba Letheka (CCP) Undoubtedly one of the year’s biggest kwaito albums, Ishamel’s Roba Letheka is an overdue commercial reward for an artist whose talent has been celebrated for the better part of the decade during which he has graced the music scene, first with Prophets of Da City and Skeem and then as a solo artist. The album is his first with 999 records after leaving the Ghetto Ruff stable. It sold 31?000 a few weeks after its release, more copies than his three previous solos combined. Thebe Mabanga
Ismail GTX Xaba: My Life After the 9th of Feb (Gallo) This is a project overshadowed by sadness. The album was released after the death in April this year of its composer and performer, Xaba. He offers a rare combination of the grand piano and Zulu lyrics. There is a story behind each of his compositions. The title track links Xaba’s birthday to the date of Nelson Mandela’s release. His titles suggest a heavy liberation movement connection. TM
Leek and the Bouncing Uptones: Roll the Dice … (20 Deck Records) This country has no shortage of punk-rock and ska bands. Over the years many have come and gone, most sounding depressingly similar. Leek and the Bouncing Uptones have been holding their own since forming as Leek in 1994, being more recognisable than many of their peers with the addition of trumpet and trombone to the usual punk madness. Sometimes the music is fresh and experimental, but at other times it’s just plain old punk. RW
S’bu: Angazi Kanjani (Gallo) Here is an artist who has had his chance to make an impact on the kwaito scene but has not quite pulled it off. Even after being recruited to the TKZee family and working with the prolific Thapelo Khomo and Robby Malinga on Angazi Kanjani he remains trapped in the mould of the man we were introduced to with Amalawyer a few years ago. TM
Thebe: Chizboy (Sony) One of kwaito’s original exponents Thebe remains ever loved but not really bought. With his latest release he has grown to accept that he ”records for the love of music and not to watch the sales”. Thebe is an example of the problem that has afflicted kwaito for the past decade. Fans are reluctant to buy an album they believe has only one hit and radio stations fail to look beyond an album’s first hit single. Perhaps the time is right for artists to look beyond radio to market their work. TM
Watershed: In the Meantime (EMI) Craig Hinds (vocals, guitar, harmonica and piano) and Paul McIver (guitar and backing vocals) the heart of Watershed have established themselves as the current kings of radio-friendly pop in South Africa, with tracks such as Shine on Me, Angel, In the Meantime and Indigo Girl (all included on the album) doing exceptionally well on many stations. RW
Kaydo: Kaydo (Gallo) Any group that attempts to break into the music business with a heavy R&B slant is brave indeed. Kaydo’s self-titled debut offers nothing extraordinarily new but has elements of promise in offerings like Mama Ndiyalila. Splicing it with ragga lyrics certainly gives them an edge. They have done enough to get another crack at an album. TM
Lamonte: Bayazibuza (Gallo) This album is a reminder of how a project conceived without purpose and executed with average talent can turn out flat and uninspiring. The narrow thematic scope in its lyrics is something you have heard in kwaito songs before. If this is the last we hear of Jabu Qhineba and Solly Moloi, I would be neither surprised nor disappointed. TM
Solomon Linda: The Story of Solomon Linda (Gallo) This poignant item comes with a plea. Buy it and you’ll be redressing some of the exploitation that befell Solomon Linda, composer of the classic pop tune Mbube that became the theme song of Pete Seeger. Here are six versions of Mbube, three of them dubbed The Lion Sleeps Tonight. The original was stark and beautiful, but later recordings seem a bit dull. This short recording includes those by Mango Groove, Ladysmith Black Mambazo and the Mahotella Queens. Proceeds will go to a Linda family fund. Matthew Krouse
Various: Contemporary and African Jazz Collection (Gallo) This anthology of 16 tracks tends in the direction of jazz with one foot in pop. There is nothing here that moves beyond the outer boundaries of tonality (even Philip Tabane’s atmospheric piece Nkupi feels at home). That said, it is largely a pleasant collection, ranging from the insistent grooves of Dennis Mpale’s most commercial outing, Do Like Miles, to the meditative musings of Mike Makhalemele and on to the warblings of Linda Kekana. The compilation closes with one of its strongest tracks, an innovative number by Unofficial Language that is as solid as its title The Rock. Shaun de Waal
Various: FY2K Level 3 (Gallo) DJ Speedy’s back in the mix with the third in his series of FY2K albums. This time it’s a pretty chilled affair, easy on the air but not too laid-back to dance to. It’s also nice to hear excellent but lesser known tracks from experts like DJ Dan alongside stock tunes such as Mauro Picotto’s Proximus and Fragma’s You Are Alive (the most commercial track on the album). RW
Various: Oppikoppi Tuned (Oppikoppi) This album is a good way to see what the Oppikoppi music festival is all about: 12 tracks by 12 different artists representing almost as many styles of music, all typical of the variety offered by the festival itself. Hip-hop crew Max Normal, rockers Not My Dog, grunge masters Saron Gas, dance gurus Krushed & Sorted, the evergreen David Kramer and more relive your wildest festival moments. RW
Various: Showcase 3: Unearthed (Sony) Radio station 5fm does get criticised every now and then for not playlisting this or that local artist’s new track, but it does manage to redeem itself with projects like the Showcase CDs for unsigned acts. Newcomers such as the cool Flowerheads from Cape Town and the funky Superjuice jostle for attention with better-known outfits such as punk brats Tweak, Cutting Jade, Zen Arcade and Fruit Fly Navigators. RW
Wessel: So Fine (Sheer Sound) Wessel van Rensburg has dropped his surname, teamed up with a five-star line-up (including Bruce Cassidy, Ernie Smith, McCoy Mrubata) and released this album of delicate fusion. Some of it sounds like television theme music, but there are gems. Pictures in My Side Mirror has a pristine flute solo by Kevin Davidson and The Emperor’s Clothes has some sincere rap by Sifiso Sudan. MK