Hi Simon,
Thanks for your email! I am familiar with the RSA scene because I am South
African, how about that? I have lived in the USA since 1976, leaving shortly
after the Soweto Riots, when it became clear to me that what was happening
was part of an ongoing and nauseating series of events!
I have been a deejay here in California for going on 20 years and I have
also travelled quite extensively to play at various parties, raves etc.
including 4 years being the resident dj at the Rustler's Valley Festival
which was usually a pretty good affair except for the occasional rain and
cold and alos once getting whupped upside the head by a touring monstrosity
from the Vereeniging chapter of Hell's Angels, hell, he was one of the
biggest men I ever saw and I let discretion determine the level of my valour
and I stayed down after the first flurry of blows, one of which cracked my
left orbital and which gave me a stunning headache for a couple of days,
spinning with headphones on became a sort of nightmare! Anyway, Rustler's
was very good to me overall and I remember those parties with much fondness.
I would love to come back to SA for another tour, do you know any club
owners? Really, I am serious about that, I would love to come to Cape Town
and play some, let me know if you do please. I do a more of a leftfield
world funk mix rather than the 4 on da flaw sort of stuff but I play a very
wide spectrum of music, being the older guy that I am, it is my intention to
remain a teenager for another 10 or so years and eventually grow up when I
push into another decade or so worht of music.
Lekker leks!
Leslie/The Power of Sound/www.kazu.org
----- Original Message -----
From: Simon Arenhold <Simon@kayacomm.com>
To: 'Leslie N. Shill' <icehouse@redshift.com>; 'Nathaniel Rahav'
<nat@rhythmlove.com>
Cc: 'acid' <acid-jazz@ucsd.edu>; <GlesneM@aol.com>
Sent: Sunday, January 07, 2001 11:58 PM
Subject: RE: south african jazz
> Hi all,
>
> Well here I am sitting in Cape Town and what a great surprise to see some
> interest in our local music. Although my interests lie more on the dance
> side of things, specifically deep house and d 'n b, I would be happy to
lend
> a hand where I can should your girl come down to Cape Town and wish to
> peruse the odd record store. I can also suggest many good club nights in
> and around this city so tell her to give me a shout should she so wish.
>
> Simon
>
> ps. Leslie you've really got it down, your knowledge of the local scene is
> truly amazing.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Leslie N. Shill [mailto:icehouse@redshift.com]
> Sent: Saturday, January 06, 2001 12:45 AM
> To: Nathaniel Rahav
> Cc: acid; GlesneM@aol.com
> Subject: Re: south african jazz
>
>
> regarding jazz in South Africa, there is a good local musical scene
although
> it lags most of the rest of the Western world in some senses. The
> suggections that have come to you thus far encompass only the better known
> South African artists who have achieved some measure of world-wide
> recognition but, like most of Africa, the country of South Africa is a
very
> musical one with a long and rich history. The record stores suffer because
> of the price of imported goods, albums sell for close to and also over
$100
> of their money! If you are paying with US$ then there are some good buys
to
> be found. In Johannesburg you might look around in the suburb of Rosebank
> for the Compact Disc Warehouse which carries a pretty good inventory, the
> owner's name is Leonard and tell him that you are a friend of Leslie Shill
> (ME!) who sent you to him and either he or his staff will assist you ably.
> In the Hyde park Shopping Centre there is also another good record store
> worth checking out although I forget the name because it has been a couple
> of years since I was back there. In the Sandton City shopping centre which
> is a HUGE development, there are also a couple of good stores whose names
I
> am also unable to recall, Recordia could be one of them.
>
> Look for a group called Tananas who are technically very accomplished
musos
> with at least a couple of worthwhile albums to their credit. Some of the
> other artists that I happen to like and that you may find interesting are
as
> follows: Pops Mohammed, one of my favorites who ahs appeared on the MELT
> compilations and who has a great album called Ancestral Healing produced
by
> an American guitarist who has a great feel for the music. Kippie Moeketsi
is
> another great jazz musician from RSA. If you look hard, you might be able
to
> find some music by The Brotherhood of Breath a largely British combine led
> by the late Chris McGregor a South African pianist that featured some of
the
> best jazz musicians that have come out of RSA. Johnnie Fourie is a
guitarist
> in the Mclaughlin vein who currently has a band with his son that has some
> good African twists in and out of it's mixolydian structures. Johnny
Boshoff
> is an absolutely phenomenal bass player who has done some sterling playing
> and producing. Sakhile is another great band from the country that has
some
> phenomenal members a number of whom have albums issued under their own
> names. Believe me, there are many homegrown and truly great artists
playing
> in the country, Johnny Clegg is yet another example and with Sipho Mchune
is
> the leader of Juluka who have released many albums that are, at their
core,
> township and tribal music, with the filigree of modern and electronic
sounds
> and arrangements to their credit.
>
> for a website that will help you somewhat and perhaps give you some good
> leads please go to www.3rdearmusic.com and you will find a site that is
both
> informative and interesting. Dave Marks, the man behind 3rd Ear wrote a
song
> many years ago that brought him some ineternational renown and also landed
> him a job with Hanley Sound working at the first Woodstock festival. he is
> also a personal friend of mine and feel free to call him up and use me as
a
> referral. Dave is a wondeful man with a heart of gold and he has been one
of
> the pillars of the music scene in RSA for as long as I can remember. I
> played many concerts in South Africa under the auspices of the folk music
> scene which Dave really founded and which was, for may years, the only way
> for artists with original music to get any sort of hearing. The 3rd Ear
site
> also has some albums available on it which you may want to check out.
>
> The club scene in South Africa is particularly strong in Cape Town but
there
> is a fairly well-developed rave scene in the country. Dave Seaman recorded
> his Global Underground album live in Cape Town and the city has some good
> clubs and a strong dance scene happening there. Actually, Cape Town is one
> of the most beautiful cities in the world and would be worth a visit just
> for the sheer physical magnificence of the place. It is also where the
first
> settlers landed in southern Africa in the late 1600's and it is steeped in
> history and cultural significance.
>
> For 4 years I was going out there as the resident DJ at the Rustler's
Valley
> music festival which used to happen over the Easter long weekend. go to
> their site which is at
> www.rustlers.co.za
> check it out! there may very well be some live music happening in the
Valley
> while your sweetheart is there and Frik and Jeunesse, the owners of the
> Valley, are very close friends of mine and I am sure they will accommodate
> and inform as is necessary. There is a lodge at the valley that has rooms
> that are very cheap by US standards and the whole place is worth seeing
for
> it's physical beauty and for the vibe, there has been some form of human
> habitation there for 100,000 years according to the carbon-dating of the
> cave paintings found on the site. Again your sweetheart can refer to me if
> she wants. The Valley is the site of some serious partying on a continuing
> basis and I cannot begin to tell you what a rush it is to be spinning
there
> as the sun breaks over the mountains of Lesotho across the floor of the
> valley and the last few hundred die-hard dancers are still whirling, I
count
> these experiences as some of my best deejaying times and I hope to return
> there for me later this year!
>
> South Africa really has a wealth of musical treasure to dig into. Please
> remember that Johannesburg in particular is not a very safe place most of
> the time, no matter what racial group you belong to! Cape Town is much
safer
> but take care as a whole anyway! If you go out into the country side and
> spend any time you are likely to encounter the local itinerant musicians
all
> over the place and you will hear some real magical stuff. In Africa people
> play and instrument or sing as they walk to alert any wild creatures that
> they are coming, you can hear this in some of the rhythms of the music.
>
> Listen, I could go on and on but I think that you probably have enough to
go
> on for now. From a food point of view, RSA has some excellent eating, if
you
> like fish, try Kingklip which has a sort of Halibut-like consistency. the
> lobster there is A-1 and the prawns from Maputo (formerly Mozambique) are
> amazing. there is a local sausage called boerewors, literally farmers
> (boere) sausage(wors) that is usually a part of any barbecue(braaivleis -
> broil=braai and vleis=meat). You can also find good curry there thanks to
> the large East Indian population. the Cape was discovered in the search
for
> a route to the Spice countries, read India and the rest of Asia for this!
>
> If you need any more info or want to know something specific, feel free to
> contact me and I can give you a phone number if you want one. I am unsure
as
> to how many listees are South African and living in South Africa but I
live
> in Monterey, CA and I do a show at www.kazu.org on Tues, Wed, Thurs from
> 8-10 PM Pacific Standard Time that is at 90.3 FM for the local area.
>
> i hope this helps somewhat!
>
> cheers and have a really good trip!
>
> leslie/The Power of Sound
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Nathaniel Rahav <nat@rhythmlove.com>
> To: <GlesneM@aol.com>
> Cc: <acid-jazz@ucsd.edu>
> Sent: Friday, January 05, 2001 11:37 AM
> Subject: Re: south african jazz
>
>
> >
> > I have a couple of recommendations for South African jazz artists, but
the
> > thing is, like the MELT 2000 releases, all of these albums are pressed
> > overseas (from Africa that is)... nevertheless if your girl is good
enuff
> > to you that she'll go digging in dusty crates, you may find some
> > interesting things by these artists:
> >
> > Hugh Masekela - Hailing from South Africa, he is one of the first and
> > foremost S.A. jazz musicians. Be careful, though, because some of his
> > albums are total cheese, especially some of the early ones which are
> > akin to Sergio Mendes's brazil 66 project.. in that they fuse Masekela's
> > native sound with corny 60's American pop. However in the late 60's and
> > early 70's he got into a real funky mode... check out his releases on
Blue
> > Thumb, 'I am not afraid' and 'Home is where the music is' (could this be
> > where Gil Scot Heron got his song title from?) Another thing I picked up
> > from him is a compilation of his work on verve, I think, which is
> > phenominal.
> >
> > Miriam Makeba - another prolific S.A. jazz vocalist whose releases are a
> > real crapshoot - some are great and some are super cheese. Look for a
song
> > by her called 'Samba', it's an acid-jazz-rare-groove-brazilian classic
of
> > the highest order.
> >
> > Abdullah Ibrahim a.k.a. Dollar Brand - a jazz pianist whose work is more
> > consistently good than the other two... I've never heard anything from
him
> > that I absolutely went crazy over, but he's definitely got his place in
> > the jazz world in the post bop style, with a lot of influences and
> > collaborations with the US jazz musicians who went to their african
roots
> > - Lonnie Liston Smith, Muhal Richard Abrams, Gary Bartz, Weldon Irvine,
> > eddie harris, etc...
> >
> > If I were in a record store in S.Africa I would look for music by these
> > other African artists:
> >
> > King Sunny Ade
> > Baba Olatunji
> > Obo Addy
> > Fela Kuti
> > baba maal
> >
> > and maybe some reggae, like Alpha Blondy....
> >
> > peace,
> > Nat
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On Fri, 5 Jan 2001 GlesneM@aol.com wrote:
> >
> > >
> > > My girl is leaving me for South Africa for a while, so to make the
most
> of it
> > > I'd love some tips as to any music i should have her seek out for me.
It
> > > looks like Melt 2000 is putting out some heavy work recently in this
> area. I
> > > espescially like the Moses Taiwa Molelekwa "genes and spirits" LP.
He's
> a
> > > young Monkish pianist to seek out if you're into rythmic jazz piano.
> (there
> > > is a track called Rapela that sounds straight outta the jazzy west
> london
> > > stables - along with some drum n bass fusions). I've been checking
other
> > > stuff on Melt 2000 but am looking for more exciting stuff. Thanks!
> > >
> > > Matt
> > >
> > >
> >
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Mon Jan 08 2001 - 17:53:57 CET