1995 Global Cultural Diversity Conference Proceedings, Sydney
Music as a Force for Social Change
Continued, from part one
Fundamental to much of the musical mix was the influence of African-American jazz which was made available in South Africa through multinational record distribution networks, and whose own origins rested similarly in the ghettos and brothels of New York and Chicago. The music was performed on an equally diverse assortment of western and African instruments: pedal organs, guitars, banjos, concertinas, pennywhistles and violins which had been imported by German traders from the turn of the century, as well as traditional gourd bows and various home-made hand rattles and drums made from paraffin tins, animal hide and pieces of scrap metal. Instruments were reinvented to suit the tuning systems and new sound arrangement of the emerging styles. Much of the music was rough and experimental and was accompanied by vibrant dance forms, fashions and what was described as a "general way of being" in the cities.
Thus the foundations were laid for what is considered the South African Township Jazz idiom, the flavour of which lies at the heart of present-day South African musical identity.
Most of the musical forms which emerged in the ghettos survived through live performance, as it was not until decades later that the state-controlled radio and local white-owned record companies recognized the marketability of these styles, which came to be known as "marabi", "mbaqanga" and "kwela" amongst other terms. These music forms, and the thoroughly urban cultural context in which they were performed, were considered a threat to the state whose political interest it was to discourage urban identification amongst black people. During the period between the 1930s and 50s, the broadcasting policy of the South African Broadcasting Corporation music programming reflected clearly the state design of separate identity. Radio was divided into Afrikaans, English and vernacular language stations. Broadly, English stations relied on British and European music programming; Afrikaans radio broadcast local Afrikaans folk music and European classical. The vernacular stations (known as Radio Bantu) broadcast makwaya (choral music influenced by mission hymnody) and rural "traditional" music.
Drinking houses and clubs became the gathering places for an emerging professionaI class in the 50s. They were places where lawyers, journalists, photographers, poets and political activists would congregate to socialize and debate issues concerning the social and political conditions of the day. These were the places where jazz, and the culture of jazz, became inextricably linked with the birth of the South African Communist Party and the African National Congress. The South African struggle for freedom was therefore embedded in this soulful and passionate music. When, during the late 1950s, the entire neighbourhood of Sophiatown was razed to the ground by the Nationalist Government, and its inhabitants forcibly removed to newly demarcated, racially- segregated suburbs of Johannesburg, many of the jazz musicians escaped into exile along with the political activists of the day. The music, like the political movements with which it was associated, effectively went underground. It was not until the late-1980s that South African jazz began to experience a revival and, once again, it was closely connected to a new era of mass political action in the country.
The 1970s and 1980s represented some of the harshest and most oppressive years of apartheid rule. These were years fraught with mass detentions without trial, of extreme police brutality, of rigorous media censorship, and finally, the declaration of a state of emergency in 1985. It was during the late 70s that the South African black consciousness movement gained national momentum. While radio and television (which, incidentally, was only introduced in South Africa in 1976) were promoting British and American music, a subtle movement began to take place amongst black South African musicians.
Informed by the ideologies of the black consciousness movement, which advocated pride and knowledge of cultural roots, musicians began to look inward to their own traditions and heritages, and a distinct Africanisation of local musical styles began to occur. Images portrayed of musicians on record covers began to change from the fashionable bell-bottoms, suits and chiffon outfits of the 1960s to beads, skins and various other symbols of African cultural identity.
It was during this time that groups such as the Malepoets began to perform marimbas (xylophones) and other traditional instruments alongside the usual combinations of guitars, synthesizers and drumsets. They began to re-arrange traditional folk melodies and sing in indigenous languages. The Malepoets in turn inspired other groups such as Amampondo (who now enjoy wide international acclaim) who went one step further by returning to their rural homes where they learned the traditional instruments and song repertoires from master practitioners.
In the mid-1980s there emerged a radical Afrikaans youth movement which began to rethink, through the medium of music, the very philosophical foundations of Afrikaner nationaIism. Those who joined the movement were called "Die Nuwe Afrikaner" (the new Afrikaner) and individual musicians such as Johannes Kerkorrel ("John Church-Organ") used song to express his anger and cynicism towards the ideologies of Afrikaans Christian Nationalism, which promoted the notion of the "Volk" (the chosen people) and white supremacy.
The basis of "Nuwe Afrikaner" music remained strongly in the British rock and punk idiom, but the lyrics were intensely local. Needless to say, these musicians were considered dangerously radical by the Government and they were immediately banned from performing on university campuses and in certain cities. However, they developed a large and fanatical following and became part of a broader trend which advocated that "local is lekker" (local is good).
This trend was supported by the establishment of small, experimental, independent record companies which were strongly anti-establishment. The "indies" circumvented the larger record company monopolies and the rigours of the state censorship board, by producing and disseminating their products through informal channels. Their music served as an important medium of politicisation amongst the youth in an era when public political oratory was strictly prohibited. Some "indies", such as Ahoy! Records managed to produced "mzabalazo" or protest music, by shrouding political messages in the vigorous rhythms and catching melodies of well-known traditional wedding songs.
The mid-1980s also witnessed the emergence of musicians such as Johnny Clegg, a Jewish South African who grew up with a passion for Zulu guitar music and the "ngoma" competitive dances which were performed during the weekends on the Johannesburg gold mines. Johnny Clegg learned the intricacies of Zulu guitar styles from migrant worker, Sipho Mchunu. Together they formed an innovative duo called Jaluka. The traditionaI Zulu form and structure of their compositions, their inclusion of instruments which are associated with traditional and neo traditional Zulu sounds, such as the "nqangala" mouthbow, the concertina and "ngoma" (drums), combined with the careful integration of lyrics in English and Zulu, presented South African audiences with a dynamic new collaborate concept in the local music scene. Importantly, Jaluka rapidly won the support of young white South Africans, many of whom began to listen to, and appreciate music based in, a black aesthetic for the very first time.
In 1985, a worldwide cultural boycott was imposed on South Africa which prohibited international artists from performing in South Africa, and South African musicians from performing abroad. The boycott was highly successful in raising political consciousness both internally and in the international community in general. However, the cultural boycott, and the years of isolation it inevitably resulted in, had a muted effect on South African musicians. While the overwhelming solidarity demonstrated by the world towards black South Africans, through their adherence to the boycott, deeply inspired local musicians, the years of isolation did not seem to instil confidence amongst South African artists, and the legacy of colonialism with its notion that anything produced in Europe or America is superior to that which is home-grown had yet to be overcome. Many musicians continued to attempt to merely replicate western musical trends and, with the encouragement of the local record companies, the production of poor imitation western pop, referred to locally as "bubblegum", continued at an enormous rate.
On the other hand, the politicisation which occurred during the years of the boycott, coupled with the general mass political action of the late 80s, did encourage the revival of jazz. This revival was initially characterised by a general nostalgia for the days of Sophiatown and District 6 of the 1950s. This marked a period of reclaiming or reliving a vibrant cultural past, a movement which had as much to do with identification with the social mix and powerful political atmosphere of the day, as it did with the music itself. The jazz idiom of the 50s came to be regarded with intense pride by the new generation of jazz artists who have since revived old repertoires and who continue to perform the standards composed during those years.
In 1986 Paul Simon released his controversial "Gracelands" album with Warner Brothers in the United States. Although this was a collaborative project between American and South African musicians, the album was released as a Paul Simon production. This provoked worldwide accusations of cultural imperialism based on the notions that Simon had appropriated South African music to serve his own musical and commercial ends. The musical success of the album, however, worked in favour of the South African musicians and helped to launch them into the international music market in a new way. After years of isolation this international recognition was a major boost to South African musicians who were consequently able to value and measure themselves against the international market with renewed perspective.
During the early years of the 90s, the political violence in the country reached frightening proportions. The unbanning of the ANC, the release of Nelson Mandela and the return of thousands of political exiles produced a euphoria in some sectors of the population only, but this fuelled militant action within the white Right Wing movement and led to violent opposition from the Zulu Nationalist IFP wing. These were years of bombs, curfews and fears of an impending civil war.
In September 1993, at the height of this period of violence, a large free open air jazz concert was held in a Johannesburg park. Thirty-five thousand people duly joined hands and participated whole-heartedly in a public appeal for peace in a new South Africa. The reviews of the concert in the local newspapers which followed were not concerned so much with the music but with the miraculous spirit of reconciliation which was demonstrated at the event, a spirit which no political rally or sports event had ever be able to approximate. It was only within the context of music the people of such disparate cultural identities and experiences could come together and, inspired by a shared aesthetic appreciation for jazz, could demonstrate their willingness to break down the racial tensions and barriers which the long years of apartheid has so skilfully built up.
Since then, music has continued to play a major role in the political process of change in South Africa. Groups such as the Cape Town-based rap musicians Prophets of the City were used during the pre-electoral months to educate people about the voting procedure, to lure children back to the schools after years of school boycotts and to encourage peace and reconciliation. And it was a grand expos‚ of South African music which was used to celebrate the inauguration of President Nelson Mandela exactly one year ago and hereby issue in an new era of democracy for South Africa.
Now that the struggle against apartheid is over there are new struggles to fight and new ways in which music continues to reflect and shape reform in South Africa. After years of isolation we have suddenly become a curiosity, a new market, a new stop-over in the southern hemisphere on the touring circuit of international artists. During the past year we have experienced an enthusiastic influx of large commercial groups,Sting, The Rolling Stones, Whitney Houston. While it is exciting to be once again back in the international arena, there are real fears amongst local artists that they will be drowned by the magnitude and popularity of such projects.
Although the South African Music Alliance of the 1980s has now been transformed into an integrated South African Musicians Union, it has yet to establish itself as a formal registered union through which it can effectively protect the interest and property of all South African musicians.
Musicians have therefore rallied together voluntarily to form quite a formidable force to demand professional recognition with due representation in the industrial courts. They have demanded a quota system for local music on the airwaves and have even gone so far as to storm one of the local music stations and to demand, on air, that their grievances and aspirations be heard. This action has been met favourably by the electronic media whose commitment to support local music has dramatically changed the shape of much of radio and television programming.
New commissions and task teams are in place to deregulate the airwaves, to set up community radio and television stations and to reorganize the distribution of state monies to artists. People's forums are being organized countrywide to allow the desires and needs of grass roots cultural groups to be voiced, so as to ensure that they are effectively included in the formulation of a new arts policy which will operate on both state and local government levels.
In conclusion, within the context of the new South African dispensation, we are able to celebrate difference without the fear that difference will be used as a political strategy to separate people. The semi-urban music genres, such as ISlCATHAMIYA, have been able to emerge from the dark, secluded halls and take their place alongside other commercial or semi-commercial musics. It is with groups such as the ISICATHAMIYA choir, Ladysmith Black Mambaso, whose beginnings rest in the late night competitions of the inner city and who now enjoy wide international acclaim, that we witness a resilience of spirit which no amount of oppression, control and dehumanisation could quell. We witness a music whose very reasons for existence lies in the oppression of its performers; a music which has provided a social outlet and a place for commentary on an oppressive environment; and a music which now symbolises and embodies the positive forces of change and identity of a new South Africa.
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