Did you know that trumpeter Johnny Mekoa was rechristened Johnny Keen and that, at the height of apartheid, pianist Tony Schilder was called Peter Evans for political reasons?
South African politics and culture have been entwined van toeka se dae af (from way back) — in fact, South African political history cannot be written without documenting cultural history as well.
In Soweto Blues: Jazz, Popular Music and Politics in South Africa (Continuum) Gwen Ansell takes us back in time, to when the circumstances of struggle politics influenced the composition of music, demonstrating how apartheid legislation affected popular culture.
Through interviews with more than 60 jazz musicians and broadcasters of different generations, Sis Gwen, as she is affectionately known, tells the story of curfews, exile, cultural boycotts, gangsters, the ultimate triumph and the continuing role of music in social commentary after liberation.
In chapter one Ansell calls the book a book of journeys “in both directions — between village and city, between saxophone and cellphone, between Langa and Cape Town, between America and Africa that, over the past century, have created the unique sound dubbed ‘South African jazz'”.
Many great South African musicians left the country during the aparthied era — Jonas Gwangwa, Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela, Abdullah Ibrahim and Thandi Klaasen are just a few of the names that come to mind. These stars lived abroad and continued to compose and perform music that reflected the circumstances that prevailed in South Africa.
They staged cultural campaigns in different countries and drew attention to the plight of South Africans. Ansell describes the situation in this way: “There was another South Africa outside South Africa. It was composed of memories and dreams — sometimes prophetic visions — as much as realities — and it was [this] South Africa that most of the musicians – belonged to.”
Even though the cultural boycott meant that South African musicians who remained in this country could not travel extensively, it had some good effects as well. Sibongile Khumalo said the boycott helped local musicians to hone their creativity by focusing on what South Africans had here at home.
At the time of the cultural boycott, Brenda Fassie’s Weekend Special and Sipho Hotstix Mabuse’s Burn Out emerged and were successful — arguably the result of this inward focus. Ray Phiri and Stimela became a cultural force during the same era. Something that could proudly be called “South African music” came into its own at that time.
After the historic 1994 liberation, jazz took a different turn. We saw musicians continuing with their social responsibilities and commentaries — from festivals that raise funds for HIV/Aids awareness to protests against the abuse of women, or just celebrating life.
As Zim Ngqawana says in Soweto Blues, “Music isn’t just notes. Every note has a social meaning. I’m singing about my mother’s knowledge of the plants that grew around her.”
Musicians who rose to prominence after 1994 (Moses Taiwa Molelekwa, Jimmy Dludlu, Moses Khumalo, Paul Hamner, for instance) are freer than their forebears, because they have more to write about than struggle politics.
In a recent Kaya FM interview I asked Ansell whether there are contradictions in being white and writing about black cultural history. She began by acknowledging the contradiction, then said that the people interviewed were wonderfully articulate and there was no need to speculate about what they meant.
With more than 60 hours of interviews, she simply put down their story. As a journalist, she continued, she has a responsibility to write stories.
It is worth noting that the original title was Black Heroes, a song by Tete’s Big Sounds on the companion CD called Soweto Blues. But Ansell’s United States publisher thought Soweto Blues would be a good title for the overseas market.
I believe that whatever the book is called it is a great document that makes a siginificant contribution to South African cultural and political history and to local literature.
A Soweto Blues companion CD, released by Sheer Sounds, includes work by Tete’s Big Sounds, McCoy Mrubata, the Dedication Orchestra, Ngqawana and Malopoets
Sabata-Mpho Mokae is Kaya FM’s literary critic. He is on air with Buyile Mdladla every Monday between noon and 1pm