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The Jazz Epistles
The Jazz Epistles were South Africa's first important (albeit short-lived) bebop band. Inspired by Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, its members included Dollar Brand (later known as Abdullah Ibrahim) on piano, Kippie Moeketsi on alto saxophone, Jonas Gwangwa on trombone, Hugh Masekela on trumpet, Johnny Gertze on bass, and Early Mabuza or Makaya Ntshoko on drums. The group became famous after performing in the jam sessions called ''Jazz at the Odin'' in the Odin Theater in Sophiatown. In 1959 just before breaking up, the Jazz Epistles recorded the first album by a black South African band, ''Jazz Epistle, Verse 1''. That same year, composer Todd Matshikiza's musical ''King Kong'' became a hit in Johannesburg. It used a jazz score to tell the tragic story of South African heavyweight boxer Ezekiel "King Kong" Dhlamini. Miriam Makeba, members of the Manhattan Brothers, and the Jazz Epistles musicians were involved in the production. The 1960 Sharpeville Massacre marked the beginning of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini. It also completely enclaves the country Lesotho. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World, and the second-most populous country located entirely south of the equator, after Tanzania. South Africa is a biodiversity hotspot, with unique biomes, plant and animal life. With over 60 million people, the country is the world's 24th-most populous nation and covers an area of . South Africa has three capital cities, with the executive, judicial and legislative branches of government based in Pretoria, Bloemfontein, and Cape Town respectively. The largest city is Johannesburg. About 80% of the population are Black South Afri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sophiatown
Sophiatown , also known as Sof'town or Kofifi, is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. Sophiatown was a black cultural hub that was destroyed under apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ..., It produced some of South Africa's most famous writers, musicians, politicians and artists. Rebuilt under the name of Triomf, and in 2006 officially returned to its original name. Sophiatown was one of the oldest black areas in Johannesburg and its destruction represents some of the excesses of South Africa under apartheid. History Sophiatown was originally part of the Waterfall farm. Over time it included the neighbouring areas of Martindale and Newclare. It was purchased by a speculator, Hermann Tobiansky, in 1897. He acquired 237 acres four miles or so west of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
African Art
African art describes the modern and historical paintings, sculptures, installations, and other visual culture from native or indigenous Africans and the African continent. The definition may also include the art of the African diasporas, such as: African American, Caribbean or art in South American societies inspired by African traditions. Despite this diversity, there are unifying artistic themes present when considering the totality of the visual culture from the continent of Africa. Pottery, metalwork, sculpture, architecture, textile art and fibre art are important visual art forms across Africa and may be included in the study of African art. The term "African art" does not usually include the art of the North African areas along the Mediterranean coast, as such areas had long been part of different traditions. For more than a millennium, the art of such areas had formed part of Berber or Islamic art, although with many particular local characteristics. The Art of E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sharpeville Massacre
The Sharpeville massacre occurred on 21 March 1960 at the police station in the township of Sharpeville in the then Transvaal Province of the then Union of South Africa (today part of Gauteng). After demonstrating against pass laws, a crowd of about 7,000 protesters went to the police station. Sources disagree as to the behaviour of the crowd: some state that the crowd was peaceful, while others state that the crowd had been hurling stones at the police and that the mood had turned "ugly". The South African Police (SAP) opened fire on the crowd when the crowd started advancing toward the fence around the police station; tear-gas had proved ineffectual. There were 249 victims in total, including 29 children, with 69 people killed and 180 injured. Some were shot in the back as they fled. The massacre was photographed by photographer Ian Berry, who initially thought the police were firing blanks. In present-day South Africa, 21 March is celebrated as a public holiday in honour of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manhattan Brothers
The Manhattan Brothers was a popular South African singing group in the 1940s and 1950s, during the Apartheid era. Their sound drew on American ragtime, jive, swing, doo-wop, and several other jazz strains, as well as African choral and Zulu harmonies. Members of the group included Joe Mogotsi, Ronnie Sehume, Rufus Khoza, the late Nathan Mdledle, and Miriam Makeba. Makeba, who went on to international fame, started her career with The Manhattan Brothers and was part of the group for much of the 1950s. The group had one United States, US ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' Billboard Hot 100, pop record chart, chart hit, "Lovely Lies", which peaked at #45 in March 1956. Joe Mogotsi died on 19 May 2011 in Johannesburg, following a long illness.Thedeadrockstarsclub.com accessed May 2011. References {{Authority con ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miriam Makeba
Zenzile Miriam Makeba (4 March 1932 – 9 November 2008), nicknamed Mama Africa, was a South African singer, songwriter, actress, and civil rights activist. Associated with musical genres including African popular music, Afropop, jazz, and world music, she was an advocate against apartheid and white-minority government in South Africa. Born in Johannesburg to Swazi people, Swazi and Xhosa people, Xhosa parents, Makeba was forced to find employment as a child after the death of her father. She had a brief and allegedly abusive first marriage at the age of 17, gave birth to her only child in 1950, and survived breast cancer. Her vocal talent had been recognized when she was a child, and she began singing professionally in the 1950s, with the Cuban Brothers, the Manhattan Brothers, and an all-woman group, the Skylarks (South African vocal group), the Skylarks, performing a mixture of jazz, traditional African melodies, and Western popular music. In 1959, Makeba had a brief r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major form of musical expression in traditional and popular music. Jazz is characterized by swing and blue notes, complex chords, call and response vocals, polyrhythms and improvisation. Jazz has roots in European harmony and African rhythmic rituals. As jazz spread around the world, it drew on national, regional, and local musical cultures, which gave rise to different styles. New Orleans jazz began in the early 1910s, combining earlier brass band marches, French quadrilles, biguine, ragtime and blues with collective polyphonic improvisation. But jazz did not begin as a single musical tradition in New Orleans or elsewhere. In the 1930s, arranged dance-oriented swing big bands, Kansas City jazz (a hard-swinging, bluesy, improvisationa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demographia, the Johannesburg–Pretoria urban area (combined because of strong transport links that make commuting feasible) is the 26th-largest in the world in terms of population, with 14,167,000 inhabitants. It is the provincial capital and largest city of Gauteng, which is the wealthiest province in South Africa. Johannesburg is the seat of the Constitutional Court, the highest court in South Africa. Most of the major South African companies and banks have their head offices in Johannesburg. The city is located in the mineral-rich Witwatersrand range of hills and is the centre of large-scale gold and diamond trade. The city was established in 1886 following the discovery of gold on what had been a farm. Due to the extremely large gold de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
King Kong (SA Musical)
''King Kong'' (1959) was a landmark South African jazz-influenced musical, billed at the time as an "all-African jazz opera". It has more recently been called "an extraordinary musical collaboration that took place in apartheid-torn South Africa.... a model of fruitful co-operation between black and white South Africans in the international entertainment field, and a direct challenge to apartheid." Opening in Johannesburg on 2 February 1959 at Witwatersrand University Great Hall, the musical, based on the life of Ezekiel Dhlamini was an immediate success, with ''The Star'' newspaper calling it "the greatest thrill in 20 years of South African theatre-going"."King Kong, the first All African Jazz Opera" Soul Safari, 10 August 2009. It "swept South Af ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Todd Matshikiza
Todd Tozama Matshikiza (1921–1968) was a South African jazz pianist, composer and journalist. Overview Matshikiza came from a musical family. He graduated from St Peter's College in Rosettenville, Johannesburg, and went on to obtain a diploma in music and a teaching diploma. He then taught English and Mathematics in Alice until 1947. During this period, Matshikiza composed songs and choral works; in particular "Hamba Kahle", now a standard South Africa piece. Matshikiza moved to Johannesburg in 1947 where he got married in 1950. He taught for a while and opened the Todd Matshikiza School of Music, a private music school, where he taught piano. His main interest was jazz. As this did not bring in a regular income, he worked in a bookshop and then as a salesman. From 1949 to 1954, Matshikiza was a committee member of the Syndicate of African Artists, which group aimed to promote music in the townships by getting visiting artists to perform there. In 1952, Matshikiza w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Makaya Ntshoko
Makaya (or Makhaya) Ntshoko (born 29 October 1939, Cape Town) is a South African drummer. He played with Dollar Brand's trio in 1958, and recorded in a sextet with Hugh Masekela and John Mehegan in 1959. He performed on The Jazz Epistles album, ''Jazz Epistle: Verse 1''. After the breakup of the group, Ntshoko founded The Jazz Giants with Kippie Moeketsi, Dudu Pukwana, Gideon Nxumalo, and Martin Mgijima. Ntshoko left South Africa in 1962, moving to Switzerland and playing with Johnny Gertze and Dollar Brand at the Club Africana in Zurich from 1963 to 1965. Following Brand's move to New York City, Ntshoko played in Copenhagen (1966, 1969–70) and recorded with Stuff Smith (1967), Benny Bailey (1968), Dexter Gordon (1968–69), and Ben Webster (1969). He embarked on a tour of the United States and the Bahamas in the early 1970s. He and Masekela recorded again in 1972. In 1974 he founded Makaya and the Tsotsis with Heinz Sauer, Bob Degen, and Isla Eckinger (later replaced by Jà ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bebop
Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early-to-mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo, complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerous changes of key, instrumental virtuosity, and improvisation based on a combination of harmonic structure, the use of scales and occasional references to the melody. Bebop developed as the younger generation of jazz musicians expanded the creative possibilities of jazz beyond the popular, dance-oriented swing music-style with a new "musician's music" that was not as danceable and demanded close listening.Lott, Eric. Double V, Double-Time: Bebop's Politics of Style. Callaloo, No. 36 (Summer, 1988), pp. 597–605 As bebop was not intended for dancing, it enabled the musicians to play at faster tempos. Bebop musicians explored advanced harmonies, complex syncopation, altered chords, extended chords, chord substitutions, asymmetrical phrasing, and intricate melodi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
