Zulu Guitar Blues: Cowboys, Troubadours and Jilted Lovers 1950–1965.
https://amf.didiermary.fr/zulu-guitar-blues/
"But for this compilation of rescued songs masterfully restored from rare 78 rpm shellacs, few could imagine the diversely beautiful roots of Zulu Guitar Music emerging during the period 1950 – 1965. Story-tellers and master musicians [...]
#50smusic #60smusic #Blues #Compilation #Mbaqanga #SouthAfrica #OldAfricanMusic
Keleketla! – Future Toyi Toyi (Edit)
https://amf.didiermary.fr/keleketla-future-toyi-toyi/
Keleketla! (“response” as in “call-and-response”) is a collaborative project started in an independent library and media arts initiative in Johannesburg with the same name. It’s a production by the founders of the Ninja Tune label and Coldcut, in 2020. [...]
Vusi Mahlasela, Norman Zulu & Jive Connection
https://amf.didiermary.fr/vusi-mahlasela-norman-zulu-jive-connection/
A lost recording from the archives of producer Torsten Larsson with a 2002 collaboration between acclaimed South African folk singer Vusi Mahlasela, singer songwriter Norman Zulu and Swedish Jazz / Soul collective Jive Connection.
The links between South Africa and Sweden have long been strong with Sweden one of the most supportive European nations in [...]
Nakhane – Tell Me Your Politik
https://amf.didiermary.fr/nakhane-tell-me-your-politik/
South African artist Nakhane, who had already built a solid reputation for himself, invited fellow star Moonchild Sanelly and American guitar player Nile Rodgers on his single “Tell Me Your Politik”.
Mandoza – Nkalakatha
https://amf.didiermary.fr/mandoza-nkalakatha/
Kwaito star Mandoza, aka MDZ, born Mduduzi Tshabalala, died in 2016 at the age of 38. One of the most notable Kwaito artists, with 10+ studio albums, many of his singles turned hits and he received multiple awards.
“Nkalakatha,” on Mandoza’s eponym second album, was at the time an anthem for all South Africans. It […]
TKZee – Magesh
https://amf.didiermary.fr/tkzee-magesh/
TKZee is a South African Kwaito music group formed in the 1990s by three school friends, Tokollo ‘Magesh’ Tshabalala (RIP), Kabelo Mabalane, and Zwai Bala.TKZee is one of the pioneering groups of Kwaito, Mapantsula and electronic music in South Africa.
The group shot to prominence in late 1997 with their singles “Palafala” and “Shibobo.” […]
DJ Cleo – Gcina Impilo Yam
https://amf.didiermary.fr/dj-cleo-gcina-impilo-yam/
Collaboration in 2021 between South African Kwaito, House music and Hip Hop producer DJ Cleo with gospel singer Bucy Radebe.
TRUE STORY – Malcolm Jiyane Tree-O
https://amf.didiermary.fr/true-story-malcolm-jiyane-tree-o/
While the Tree-O’s previous outing UMDALI presented a snapshot of an inspired few days of spontaneity, TRUE STORY is a more deliberately crafted opus. Recorded in Johannesburg over three sessions between December 2020 and April 2021 and further polished for months in post-production sessions in 2023, the record is synesthetically vivid throughout, […]
Diteboho - Pitso (1st Movement)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGkMKHlbrjY
Black classical music, with traces of Abdullah Ibrahim...
Almon Memela (Soweto)
https://amf.didiermary.fr/almon-memela-soweto/
Born in 1936, Almon Memela is (was?) a South African composer, guitarist and producer, from Donnybrook, KwaZulu-Natal, who taught himself to play guitar as a child (first on homemade instruments and with no encouragement from his family). A remarkably versatile artist, his music went from Soul Jazz and Jive to Mbaqanga and AfroFunk. [...]
#70smusic #AfroFunk #Jazz #Mbaqanga #SoulJazz #SouthAfrica #OldAfricanMusic
Dr. Madala Kunene
https://amf.didiermary.fr/madala-kunene/
Madala Kunene blends Zulu folk with township blues to produce a unique hybrid of contemporary music he calls “Madala-line”. Born in the vibrant streets of Durban, Madala Kunene, affectionately known as Bafo, emerged as a legend deeply rooted in Zulu culture and its musical rhythms. Dr. Madala Kunene is forever dubbed the King of Zulu Guitar! […]
Ibrahim Khalil Shihab – Spring
https://amf.didiermary.fr/ibrahim-khalil-shihab-spring/
South Africa’s lost jazz history contains many an overlooked classic. But even within that hidden tradition, there are few albums that suffered such an unlucky fate as Spring, the monumental 1968 debut album by pianist Ibrahim Khalil Shihab, formerly Chris Schilder.
Though Shihab was only twenty-two when Spring was recorded, he was already a lynchpin of […]
Philip Tabane – Malombo
https://amf.didiermary.fr/rip-philip-tabane/
Philip Tabane (1934 – 2018) was a South African musician, vocalist, jazz guitarist and band leader, part of the group Malombo in the 60s.
Malombo Jazz Makers
https://amf.didiermary.fr/malombo-jazz-makers/
International reissues of two classics of South African jazz by Malombo Jazz Makers, ‘Malompo Jazz’ (1966) and ‘Malombo Jazz Makers Vol. 2’ (1967). Formed in Mamelodi township near Pretoria, the group started out as Malombo Jazz Men with Julian Bahula on malombo drums, Abbey Cindi on flute and Philip Tabane on guitar. Fusing traditional and […]
Saturday Fever – Jivaro
https://amf.didiermary.fr/saturday-fever-jivaro/
Groupe sud-africain de musique disco et bubblegum, les quatre membres de Jivaro ont été actifs à la fin des années 1980. “Saturday Fever” est sorti en 1989.
"One of – if not the – strongest South African kwaito/bubblegum albums in existence, Jivaro’s 1989 masterpiece 'Saturday Fever,' the album features various heavy hitting tracks that perfectly […]
Thembi Dunjana
https://amf.didiermary.fr/thembi-dunjana/
Thembi Dunjana is a female jazz pianist from South Africa, and “a lover of hip hop sounds, rhythmic displacement and cool possibilities”. She received the Mzantsi Jazz award in 2021 and was a Basadi in Music award nominee in 2022.
Her album [God Bless iKapa. God Bless Mzantsi.] is a homage to the pianist’s home […]
Abraham Mennen
https://amf.didiermary.fr/abraham-mennen/
Abraham Mennen is a South African saxophonist, improvisor and composer. In 2019, he released “The Really Revered Whole Story.”
Abdullah Ibrahim – Mannenberg
https://amf.didiermary.fr/abdullah-ibrahim-mannenberg/
Filmed in 1987, Abdullah Ibrahim describes in this interview how the iconic track “Mannenberg” came into being and performs it live. Taken from the BBC Arena film “A Brother with Perfect Timing.”
“Mannenberg” is a Cape jazz song by South African musician Abdullah Ibrahim, first recorded in 1974. Driven into exile by the apartheid [...]
#AbdullahIbrahim #Apartheid #Documentary #Jazz #SouthAfrica #AfroJazz
Thandiswa Mazwai – Vana Vevhu
https://amf.didiermary.fr/thandiswa-mazwai-funk-afrika-vana-vehu-live/
From the live album “Dance of the Forgotten Free” recorded by Thandiswa Mazwai at a concert in 2010.
After five albums with the band “Bongo Maffin”, Thandiswa Mazwai ventured onto a solo career. Her first project, Zabalaza (2004), reached double-platinum status and won numerous awards, including a Kora award for Best African Female and four […]
Old footage of Harari live
Harari (“Lone Wanderer”) was a legendary Afro-Rock group founded in the late 60’s by Om Alec Khaoli, Selby Ntuli and Sipho Hotstix Mabuse.
https://amf.didiermary.fr/old-footage-harari-live-kippies-club-joburg/
Through the years Harari supported many international acts on their tours of South Africa, including Percy Sledge, Timmy Thomas, Brook Benton, Wilson Pickett and Letta Mbulu. […]
Boddhi Satva – Kilulu
https://amf.didiermary.fr/boddhi-satva-kilulu-spilulu-baraka-kaysha/
From album “Manifestation” by Boddhi Satva, with Spilulu, H.Baraka & Kaysha.
Afro House pioneer and father of Ancestral Soul, Boddhi Satva presents his album, “Manifestation” (2022), and brings to a close a trilogy of long players, following “Invocation” (2012) and “Transition” (2016).This most conceptual of Afro House’s producers offers an ode to lovers [...]
DJ Maphorisa & Tyler ICU – Izolo
https://amf.didiermary.fr/dj-maphorisa-tyler-icu-izolo/
South African artists DJ Maphorisa & Tyler ICU came through in 2021 with their track “Izolo”, from their Banyana EP, featuring singers Mpura, Daliwonga & Visca.
Malcolm Jiyane Tree-O – Umdali
https://amf.didiermary.fr/malcolm-jiyane-tree-o-umdali/
A generous sideman and bandleader, multi-instrumentalist Malcolm Jiyane stands at the vanguard of his prodigious generation of jazz musicians. Operating from the centre and the fringes of the South African jazz scene, the trombonist (and pianist) is an enigmatic yet charismatic galvaniser of his contemporaries, able to put them through their paces in his own […]
One Night in Pelican
https://amf.didiermary.fr/one-night-pelican/
“One Night in Pelican” is a compilation that features all the key groups and players of a special time and place. It captures the musical dreams escaping from Soweto’s first nightclub.
Ten seminal tracks journeying through Jazz, Funk, Fusion and Disco, detailing the incredible story and sounds behind the Soweto nightclub during the height of […]
#70smusic #AfroFunk #Apartheid #Jazz #SoulJazz #SouthAfrica #AfroJazz
Miriam Makeba & Harry Belafonte – Malaika
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5l9rg4A2cp0
Off their Grammy-winning joint album, "An Evening with Belafonte/Makeba."
Yes, Belafonte sang in (Tanzanian or Kenyan) Swahili here.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaika
