The “Playlist” marches on. This week: Ntone Edjabe. Publisher of Chimurenga Magazine (the latest issue is coming out soon). Curator of the Chimurenga Library and the PanAfricanSpaceStation, and DJ. He is also running for Muammar Qhaddafi ‘s job as AU President. Ha ha.
Busy man.
So I am happy he found time to send me a playlist: “Man – here, 10 tracks on rotation at the Chimurenga factory, when I can get past Boeta G who camps near the player”:
(1) ‘Vana Vhevu’ from Thandiswa‘s excellent new disc. Everything’s good here but this is something else. An oddity, weird and groovy. Sounds like Meshell on the bass.
(2) “Go to Hell.’ I love Nina Simone. She makes me smile at the thought of going to hell.
(3) ‘Fourth Movement (end)‘ by the Blue Notes. Off “Blue Notes for Mongezi”. The remaining 4 Blue Notes [Dudu Pukwana, Chris McGregor, Louis Moholo and Johnny Dyani] bass recorded this suite, spontaneous compositions, on the day of Mongs’ memorial in London; 3 days after his death of Apartheid and the coldness of exile and more directly of medical negligence. Hard to find more emotion packed in one single track.
(4) ‘Theme de Yoyo,’ by the Art Ensemble of Chicago with Fontella Bass. To some imaginary French woman, Bass chants: “Your head is like a yo-yo, your neck is like a string/Your body’s like camembert’s, oozing from its skin …Your fanny’s like two sperm whales, floating down the Seine/ Your voice is like a long fart, that’s music to your brain…” On and on. And the accompanying music matches this intensity. Great antidote to negrophilia.
(5) ‘Maracatu Atomico‘ by Chico Science and Nacao Zumbi. Can’t get enough of Chico’s energy and fat, fat breaks.
(6) ‘Djuigunira,’ by Miriam Makeba. Her bone chilling ode to Sekou Toure, live at the Palais du Peuple. Mazi: no pass but 8 passports, transnational original.
(7) “Nzinzi” by King Emeneya Kester. Slick production and analog drum machines, the anthem of the SAPE movement.
(8) ‘Yakhal’ Inkhomo‘ by Winston Mankunku. This tune birthed countless poems, novels, MK soldiers, and probably a church or two. Not a week without it.
(9) ‘En Slip Chausettes (dub)’ by Bibi Tanga. Tanga and DJ Professeur Inlassable have been making indescribable music the last few years – but you’ll hear Franco, James Brown and Curtis Mayfield in it. The lyrics are hilarious: “en slip-chaussettes, s’il vous plait” is what cops order, politely, when you get arrested in Yaounde. They don’t tell you that have the right to remain silent.
(10) ‘Ba Dutse’ by Chief/Prof/Dr Neo Muyanga. Ma broda, the family’s nerd.
So the one I’ve been waiting for has landed,and it does not dissapoint.Great mix all round,just surprised to not see anything from the Kalakuta Republic.The Art Ensemble of Chicago also did two albums under the moniker,Art Ensemble of Soweto,exploring Azanian riddims.Saw a nice little clip of Thandiswa talking about the meaning of iBokwe.Yes,Chico Science,gone too soon!Ntone,if I may,ask you this related unrelated question,does Alpha Blondy’s song,Sankara, diss the man?
I too was surprised at the non-inclusion of Fela? Ntone, what says?
Weird, I was gonna include Art Ensemble’s “New York is full of lonely people”, but changed my mind.
I saw Mankunku play once, at some NSA corporate gig in the 90s, where Masekela was also playing and, in my reading of them on stage, Masekela was quite patronising towards him. Most people in the audience didn’t seem to know who Mankunku was. Anyway, I chatted to him and got him to sign a R10 note, the only paper I had on me – in retrospect a crass move. I still have the note, despite the credit crunch.
I am convinced Kelwyn Sole’s poem, ‘Mankunku’, was inspired by “Yakhal’ Inkomo”:
Dark golden boat
on a sea
far away, rock with me
rock with me:
Deep-throated bird
gentle me home
past the mud-lined street
where thoughts stick fast
and children pick rubbish
hungrily
the night flakes notes
from the scalp of my sorrow -
hide in my pillow
and cry for me
(The Blood of Our Silence, Ravan, 1987)
That must have been before Masekela reformed. I once sat next to him at an ANC corporate gig in the late 1990s held in Somerset West (my reporter girlfriend got me in) and he turned out to be quite pleasant. BTW, that was an odd night. There was an auction and people were auctioning of their ties (!) for the ANC. Patrice Motsepe and a group of BEE men. It was embarrassing.
Mongane Serote had a collection that was called Yakhal’Inkhomo,but dont know if it featured a poem by the same name.Somehow way back I remember a poem from Keorapetse Kgotsitsile with the same theme.But searching for it threw up nothing,but the interesting fact, that The Last Poets named themselves after a poem of his.Would be nice to hear from others what the poems around this piece are.
Given the references to Pokwana, Feza and Dyani on this blog the last few days (btw, Adullah’s “Mantra Mode” off the Mantra Mode album is playing as I type this), one of the best poems set to music for me is Kgositsile with Tumi and the Volume doing a song for Johnny Dyani (it’s called “Johnny Dyani.” If I can find it online, I’ll post it. — Sean
I thought he used to hang out with the Last Poets.
BTW, I was once invited by a friend who taught at a NYC Ivy League school [I am trying to be evasive] to speak to his class about SA after they had watched Lee Hirsch’s “Amandla!”. When I got there, I found that one of The Last Poets was also there to talk to the class. When I had done my bit, he took the floor and went on a homophobic tirade. You could see how uncomfortable the largely black group of students were.
Fela 1: The 11th track is Femi’s “Democrazy” from his last album – he expanded Fela’s wordplay to a song. The thinness of contemporary songwriting… or minimalism. Anyway I like that Femi flees the crowded world of Afrobeat, riding a fuji riddim. But he took his horns with him.
Fela 2: I think Fela moved to Accra. He lives inside the body of Wanlov the Kubolor:http://www.myspace.com/wanlov
Abeg, get your green card O!
Fela 3: There’re talks in Tshwane of Festac 2010 in South Africa. Who will, who can organise the anti-Festac (as Fela did in 77, which turned out to be the REAL Festac)?
@”There’re talks in Tshwane of Festac 2010 in South Africa. Who will, who can organise the anti-Festac (as Fela did in 77, which turned out to be the REAL Festac)?”
Chimurenga!
Would love to see Kaganof’s movie he did on one of the founders of the Last Poets,Gylan Kain,called Baby Kain.
Kaganof also made a good film on the poetry-music dialogue in SAn context, titled “Giant Steps”, music is Zim and Dyani, poets: Ramps, Kgafela, Mac Manaka…co-directed by Geoff Mpaklhathi who ran jazz societies in Pta in the 70s.
Another dialogue I can think of is Mafika’s Jol’inkomo, after the Gibson Kente’s song popularised by Makeba.
Kaganof also made this film about an electronic music festival featuring the music of Zim and a few others: http://theleoafricanus.com/2007/12/02/africas-first-electronic-music-festival/
Also,I talk about me,I am Africa,Madingoane reading with musical backing.Then there is Marimba doing the Ingrid Jonker poem,Die Kind.Have seen the Young Lions/Lioness’ rappin’ knuckles with the Afrikan Poet Society compilation.
I first saw the Madingoane poem being read in the strange film “Two Rivers” about the poet Rashaka Ratshitanga.