Hilton Schilder :: Rebirth (2015)

Composer and multi-instrumentalist Hilton Schilder was born into a musical family in Lotus River, Cape Town. He is the son of esteemed South African jazz pianist Tony Schilder (1937-2010) and nephew of Ebrahim Kalil Shihab (formerly Chris Schilder) of Cape Town’s groundbreaking jazz-fusion group of the 1970s Pacific Express. He was given his first instrument in the form of a drum at the age of three.

Hilton’s musical trajectory has taken him through a variety of groups and collaborations in the capacity of both a composer and a performer. He partnered with Mac McKenzie in the mid-80s to form the Genuines, a rock outfit that channelled the folk music of the Cape through punk. The band’s first two releases on the Shifty label tethered them to the broader Voëlvry movement and cemented their legacy in the history of South Africa’s alternate music scene.

Post-Genuines, Hilton immersed himself into jazz and was a member and contributing composer to Robbie Jansen’s Sons of Table Mountain. In the early 2000s, he performed with the Goema Captains of Cape Town and released his first solo album entitled No Turning Back on Mountain Records in 2003. He was the project leader of the South African and Swiss collaborative jazz ensemble Iconoclast in 2008.

In 2010, Hilton fought cancer and lost a kidney in the process. While in hospital, he heard what would become the composition “Rebirth” during a morphine-induced lucid dream. Waking up bedridden and without access to an instrument, he memorised what he could recall of the piece by imagining a piano keyboard on the ceiling.

“Rebirth” is a spiritual masterwork by a seasoned musician at the height of his powers - a sonic journey of sweeping light and shade that is both personal and universal in the depths it traverses. The piece is issued over two sides of a vinyl 7-inch single in a sleeve featuring Schilder’s distinctive ink drawings and is also the title track of a solo piano album.

► Hilton Schilder - Rebirth (2015)
1. Rebirth
2. Tesna Part 15
3. Birsigstrasse 90
4. Tesna Part 5
5. The Art of Flying


















► Hilton Schilder Selected Recordings 2003-2009

Hilton Schilder :: Birsigstrasse 90 Live

Hilton Schilder performing at "The Night of the Schilder" in Cape Town on 16 April 2015. The event at Loop Street's Eye marked the 7-inch vinyl release of the single "Rebirth" from the eponymous solo-piano album. This surprise pop-up performance accompanied a listening party that took in Schilder's back catalogue (Genuines, Goema Captains, Hilton Schilder Group, RockArt, All In One) and included recordings by his father Tony (Tony Schilder Trio) and uncle Ebrahim (Chris Schilder Quartet, Pacific Express). "Birsigstrasse 90" appears on the Rebirth album and was composed at the song's namesake address in Basel, Switzerland.

Sathima Benjamin :: Africa (Hilton Schilder Trio)

Sathima Bea Benjamin performing "Africa" with the Hilton Schilder Trio on 1 May 2013. Benjamin's appearances in Cape Town in mid-2013 culminated in a string of celebratory events in July that marked the South African launch of the reissue of her 1976 album African Songbird and included a performance at Tagore's Jazz Bar and a screening of the film Sathima's Windsong at the Labia Cinema. Her magnus opus "Africa" was recorded for African Songbird following her return to South Africa after a long period abroad. The Soweto Uprising of 1976 precipitated a second period of exile in which she lived in New York City for 34 years. She returned to the city of her childhood in 2011, making Cape Town her home once again until her death at the age of 76 on 23 August 2013.

Cape Town Celebrates Sathima :: 13, 14 & 16 July 2013

South Africa’s inimitable jazz vocalist and composer Sathima Benjamin returned to Cape Town in 2011 following 34 years in New York. Benjamin and former husband Abdullah Ibrahim moved to the United States with their two children in the wake of the 1976 Soweto Uprisings. Their relocation effectively became exile as the apartheid government revoked their citizenship for participating in cultural work for the liberation movement. This month, Cape Town celebrates Sathima Benjamin’s homecoming with series of events that include a live performance, a film screening and lots of great music.

Saturday 13 July 2013 :: African Songbird Relaunched

Recorded in the year preceding her departure from South Africa in 1977, African Songbird was Sathima Benjamin’s debut release and a canvas for her own compositions. Unavailable for over three and a half decades, June 2013 saw the release of Matsuli Music’s reissue of the landmark Afro-jazz long-player on vinyl, CD digipak and digital-download formats. To mark the occasion of the album’s relaunch, Sathima Benjamin & The Hilton Schilder Trio will perform at Tagore’s Jazz Bar on the evening of Saturday 13 July. The performance will be streamed online via Pan African Space Station Radio.

Sunday 14 July 2013 :: Sathima’s Windsong Film Screening

This 2010 film-portrait of jazz vocalist Sathima Benjamin traces her musical journey from Cape Town to New York City via an astonishing morning in a Parisian recording studio with Duke Ellington in 1963. A reflection on displacement, exile, longing and belonging, Sathima’s Windsong premiered at Cape Town’s Encounters International Documentary Film Festival in 2010 (Runner-Up Audience Award). This one-off 6.15pm screening at the Labia-on-Orange on Sunday 14 July sees filmmaker Daniel Yon and Sathima Benjamin in attendance for Q&A.

Tuesday 16 July 2013 :: Future Nostalgia Spins Afro-Jazz Classics

Cape Town’s vinyl enthusiast collective Future Nostalgia dedicates a night to classic South African jazz from African Songbird to Underground in Africa on Tuesday 16 July. Recordings from the As-Shams label are sure to abound as Matsuli Music’s Matt Temple takes a guest slot on the decks. Future Nostalgia gatherings are held every Tuesday at the Mahogany Room from 8pm.

Sathima Benjamin & The Hilton Schilder Trio

O’Driscolls, Cape Town (May 2013) | Photos © Calum MacNaughton

Hilton Schilder :: Selected Recordings 2003-2009

Music video for "Narrow Escape" featuring Hilton Schilder on vocals. Since his tenure with the Genuines from 1986 to 1993, Hilton Schilder has assembled a rich and eccentric solo and collaborative discography. Here are some selected recordings to seek out and investigate:

► The Hilton Schilder Group - No Turning Back (2003)
1. No Turning Back (H. Schilder)
2. For Tony (H. Schilder)
3. Cole (H. Schilder)
4. Mr. Cool is in the Lounge (H. Schilder)
5. Tone Nails (H. Schilder)
6. View from the Top (H. Schilder)
7. Why? All this Time (R. Jansen)
8. Red Rock City (G.S. McKenzie)
9. Patricia (H. Schilder)
10. Tesna (H. Schilder)
11. Email to the Ancestors (H. Schilder)
12. Why? Come on World (R. Jansen)

► RockArt - Future Cape (2006)
1. Oom Jaap Jaap se Stamboom (H. Schilder, A. van Heerden)
2. Nuwestraat (H. Schilder, A. van Heerden)
3. Groovy Groovy (H. Schilder)
4. Russel (H. Schilder)
5. Changes (H. Schilder)
 6. Fourth Eye (H. Schilder, A. van Heerden)
7. Bitterlewe Intro (H. Schilder)
8. Bitterlewe (A. van Heerden, A. Bongelo)
8. Feeling Like a Stranger (H. Schilder)
9. Ladies' Night on Car-Atom (H. Schilder, A. van Heerden)
10. Druiwepiek (H. Schilder)
11. Bitterlewe Live (H. Schilder, A. van Heerden, A. Bongelo)

► The Iconoclast - Live at the Bird's Eye (2008)
1. Sweet as Hani (H. Schilder)
2. Langarm (R. Ekes)
3. Homer (H. Jephtah)
4. Cuba Castro (H. Schilder, N. Scalliet)
5. G's Tension (G. Beuerle)
6. Pang Salie (H. Schilder)
7. St. Lucia Draai (H. Jephtah)

► Hilton Schilder - Live at Bridgetown (2009)
1. The Healing (G.S. McKenzie, H. Schilder)
2. Elements of Surprise (H. Schilder)
3. Tesna 5 (H. Schilder)
4. Mammie 1 & 2 (H. Schilder)
5. Tesna 3 (H. Schilder) 















(See Rebirth for 2015 recording)

Hilton Schilder :: The Wikkelspies

Hilton Schilder is known for embracing digital technology as evidenced by his electronic work with Alex van Heerden (1974-2009) under the RockArt moniker. He is also no stranger to exploring the sonic potential of ancient instruments hewn from wood and wire, which he dubs "single-string technology." Pushing the invisible frontiers of tradition, Schilder partnered with bow craftsman Bien Petersen to develop the Wikkelspies (or “shake-spear” as he cunningly translates its Afrikaans name). A flat board with seven spring-mounted mouth bows arranged in parallel, the device rests on the player's lap while strings are struck by sticks and the board is shaken with the knees. "This is the only instrument in the world like this. We invented it 6 months ago," says Schilder demonstrating his creation on a pop-up stage in front of Cape Town's National Museum in September 2012.

Goema Roadshow :: August 2012

Learners show off their moves as the Goema Roadshow reaches Fairmount Secondary

A goema “roadshow” is visiting schools in and around Cape Town as the third season of the Cape Town Goema Orchestra draws near. The multimedia road-show presentation introduces learners to the music of Cape Town through the lens of diversity, unravelling the myriad of cultural influences that have given the Cape a unique language, unique food and a unique musical flavour. Learners are not only reminded of our city’s living musical traditions in the form of the Klopse, Malay Choirs and Christmas Bands but also get to see how contemporary artists have taken inspiration from the streets to produce Goema Rock, Cape Jazz and even a Goema Orchestra.

Joining the roadshow is Hilton Schilder, the multi-instrumental innovator associated with legendary Cape Town groups such as the Genuines, the Goema Captains, the Sons of Table Mountain, RockArt and, most recently, All In One, his acoustic super-trio with Errol Dyers and Steve Newman. A skilled bow player, Schilder also promotes “single-string technology,” demonstrating that beautiful music can be created with simple, ancient tools. Also present is Achmat Sabera, the Cape music instrument artisan whose “gummies” and tambourines are widely regarded as the best on the street. Sabera takes learners through the arduous drum-making process, a skill that Cape Town is in danger of losing as cheap, mass-produced instruments flood the market.

The goema roadshow comes just weeks before the third concert season of the Cape Town Goema Orchestra under the auspices of composer Mac McKenzie. A leading exponent of contemporary forms of goema, McKenzie launched the orchestra in 2010 with “Goema Symphony No. 1” and “Table Bay Concerto” followed in 2011. This year, McKenzie presents a work entitled “South Atlantic Suite” and shares his platform with guest composers Chantal Willie, Ana Strugar, Derek Gripper and Mandla Mlangeni.

A brave learner at South Peninsula High School demos the !xaru

Achmat Sabera's "gummy" workshop at Plumstead High School

Hilton Schilder's bow performance at Grassdale High School

Special thanks to Ruschka Jaffer of the Bright Star Programme (project coordinator), Iain Harris of Coffeebeans Routes (logistics), roadshow stars Achmat Sabera & Hilton Schilder and, of course, the inspiring teachers and enthusiastic learners of Cape Town.

Hilton Schilder & Friends :: Padskou Jam

Hilton Schilder and Bien Petersen with guest Tony Cedras at iBuyambo Music & Art Exhibition Centre in Cape Town. This jam combines cajon, bows, trumpet and voice and sees Schilder workshopping an experiment in what he describes as “single-string technology” for his Wikkelspies Padskou. Plans to take this travelling bow show on the road are being conceived and will include the unveiling of a new instrument designed by Petersen and Schilder dubbed the wikkelspies (or “shake-spear” as Schilder will cunningly translate its Afrikaans name).

The Genuines :: Recorded Works 1986-1993

A lightning-speed inventory of protest and defiance is mashed with theatrical satire and cut against biting realism to create an inspired piece of art of great cultural significance. The Genuines “Struggle” video is the work of filmmakers Joëlle Chesselet and Craig Matthew of Doxa Productions and appears in the documentary Mama Goema. Garnering cult status for its high energy performances, these are the band's complete recorded works:

► GOEMA (Shifty Records, 1986)
Recorded at Shifty Studios (Johannesburg - June 1986)
Produced & Engineered by Lloyd Ross
DRUMS: Ian Herman
KEYBOARDS, VOCALS & PERCUSSION: Hilton Schilder
GUITAR: Gerard O'Brien
BASS & VOCALS: Mac McKenzie

A1. Troubled Dreams (G.S. McKenzie)
A2. Pictures of You (G.S. McKenzie)
A3. Shadows Lengthens (H. Schilder, D. Lynnejutzen)
A4. Goema (G.S. McKenzie)
A5. Observations (G.S. McKenzie)
A6. Struggle (G.S. McKenzie, R. Jansen)
B1. 20th Floor (G.S. McKenzie)
B2. The Edge (G.S. McKenzie)
B3. Let's Walk (G.S. McKenzie)
B4. Narrow Escape (H. Schilder)
B5. The Dancer (G.S. McKenzie)
B6. Do It Right (G.S. McKenzie)










► MR. MAC & THE GENUINES (Shifty Records, 1987)
Recorded at Shifty Studios (Johannesburg - July to October 1987)
Produced & Engineered by Lloyd Ross
BANJO & HUMMING: Sam "Mr. Mac" McKenzie
GUITAR: Gerard O'Brien
DRUMS: Ian Herman
BASS & VOCALS: Gerald "Mac" McKenzie
KEYBOARDS, PERCUSSION & VOCALS: Hilton Schilder
BRASS ARRANGEMENTS: Robbie Jansen (Alto Sax) & Tony Cedras (Trumpet)

A1. Baba Riebab/Vrot Tamatie (Traditional | The Genuines)
A2. Beetle (Traditional | S. McKenzie)
A3. Desperately (G.S. McKenzie)
A4. Captain McKenzie (H. Schilder)
A5. Hies Ôs Weer (G.S. McKenzie)
A6. Ou Kleine Jannie (H. Schilder)
A7. Won't Discuss It (G.S. McKenzie)
B1. Moonbeams (S. McKenzie)
B2. Maanskyn (Traditional | The Genuines)
B3. Blikkie Se Boem (Traditional | The Genuines)
B4. Ek Het 'n Bra (H. Schilder)
B5. Ja Soe Waar (H. Schilder)
B6. Do It Right (G.S. McKenzie)
B7. Mr. Mac Plays On (S. McKenzie)







► CHASING THE VOODOO (Provogue Music, 1991) 
Recorded at Tango Studio (Eindhoven, Netherlands - November 1990)
Engineered by Frank van Donkersgoed
Mixed & Edited by Peer Raven
GUITAR & BACKING VOCALS: Gerard O'Brien
VOCALS & BASS: Mac McKenzie
DRUMS & BACKING VOCALS: Karriem Darries
SPECIAL GUEST: Louis Raubenheimer
All Songs Composed by G.S. McKenzie

1. Ozone Layer
2. Love Song
3. Me & My Baby
4. All About
5. Fire of Life
6. Hope & Despair
7. Woman is...
8. Slow Slow
9. 21st Century
10. I Love a Scandal
11. Bridges













► NIGHTS WITH THE CAPE GYPSIES (Mountain Records, 1993)
Recorded at Milestone Studios (Cape Town - 1993)
Produced by Murray Anderson
Mastered by Helge Halvé
ELECTRIC BASS & VOCALS: Gerald "Mac" McKenzie
ELECTRIC GUITAR: Gerard O'Brien
ACOUSTIC PIANO & SYNTHESIZERS: Hilton Schilder
DRUMS: Vincent Pavitt & Jack Momple
SAXOPHONE & FLUTE: Robbie Jansen

1. Jompass (H. Schilder)
2. Bulala Ekabe (H. Schilder)
3. Slow Slow (G.S. McKenzie)
4. Night with the Cape Gypsies (G.S. McKenzie)
5. Wie is Frank? (H. Schilder)
6. Wave After Wave (G.S. McKenzie)
7. Chris is Slams (H. Schilder)
8. National Explosion (G.S. McKenzie)

Jou Ma Se Goema :: Film Teaser

Cape Town came about as a result of its location and the subsequent historic forces that were visited upon it. What emerged is a city with cultural and linguistic characteristics drawn from the disparate influences of Western Europe, Maritime Southeast Asia and Southern Africa (amongst others).

While Cape Town’s musicians take inspiration from the natural wonders that surround them, they inhabit an African city in the process of negotiating how it projects itself to the rest of the world. A place of musical diversity, modern Cape Town seeks to rise above tolerance to pursue meaningful cultural integration. This challenge is reflected in Cape Town’s oldest manifestation of authentic musical culture, Tweede Nuwe Jaar and the Coon Carnival.

The Carnival’s rhythm, Goema, initially a term describing the drums used in the minstrel parades and subsequently the name of the characteristic Cape beat that emerged from these drums, was adopted as a Cape Jazz idiom in the 20th century and has been interpreted through Rock, Hip-Hop and Electro in recent times. Modern usage of the word reflects a growing re-appraisal of Klopse culture and a new movement that defines Cape Town’s “sound” by the inventive blending of cultural influences.

(This teaser evolved into the documentary Mama Goema)

All In One :: Self-Titled LP Launch

It’s a balmy evening in Cape Town and a crowd is dribbling into formation on Loop Street; early arrivers staking claims to the scattered tables of Alliance Française (while its humble kitchen dispatches slivers of quiche). Red lights warm a stage draped in an ethnic rug; still-life with wood and strings. Steve Newman, Errol Dyers and Hilton Schilder are shooting the breeze in the wings, their toils having culminated in the body of music they’re about to stamp on the unconscious of those present for the launch of their new album.

This extraordinary combination of Cape Town musicians evokes the spirit that brought Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucía together for Friday Night in San Francisco. However, unlike the virtuosic Jazz-Flamenco trio of the early 80s, Newman, Dyers and Schilder have concretised a theory for their union, appearing as All In One and gathering their recorded material under the same name. Moreover, while prescribed structure and precise execution makes Friday Night beautiful, All In One channels its power in the process of playing and finds its voice when separate contributions become indistinguishable from the new compound that’s formed; when the trio becomes what they call themselves.

Taking the stage, Newman, Dyers and Schilder exude the tempered confidence of seasoned craftsmen. That this is a profoundly South African cast, there is not doubt, but there’s also a shamanic air that hangs about them. This could be attributed to the psychedelic drawings that adorn the stage or perhaps the white robe over leather chaps of their creator Schilder (replete with eyeliner and Mohican). Perhaps it’s Newman’s ponytail, resembling a seafaring rope, or Dyers’ beanie, which gives him the weathered look of a cosmic fisherman. That these men are conjurers of magic is confirmed when the music begins.

The two sets are characterised by sonic tapestries that reference flamenco rumba, gypsy swing, tango, maskanda and goema. In addition to Newman’s selection of exquisitely crafted guitars, instruments featured include curiosities like the rain stick, the mouth bow and the melodica (and even the manner in which the three wean sounds from their tools is novel). Each performer also commits a solo offering to the show, which sees Newman stroking inlays on the face of his guitar to produce the sound of a kalimba. Dyers brings a dirge to the table while Schilder’s piece, albeit acoustic, carries the aesthetics of prog rock.

All In One provides an engaging performance and All In One (Swett Shoppe Records) is a dazzling album. The combination of styles, instruments and influences tethered to a raw improvisational approach has produced something that bespeaks the true nature of ubuntu. When diverse sounds unite, the result is something more than the sum of its parts. It’s a motherless sound insomuch as its origins are blurred. They may be the old guard but this is a new sound for Cape Town.

► All In One - S-T (2009)
1. All In One (E. Dyers, S. Newman, H. Schilder)
2. Three Cosmic Travellers (E. Dyers, S. Newman, H. Schilder)
3. Backyard Strummers (E. Dyers, S. Newman, H. Schilder)
4. Frogs (S. Newman)
5. Ozone (E. Dyers, S. Newman, H. Schilder)
6. Trans Karoo Express (E. Dyers, S. Newman, H. Schilder)
7. C-Movement (E. Dyers)
8. Tango Very Much (E. Dyers, S. Newman, H. Schilder)
9. The Hunt (E. Dyers, S. Newman, H. Schilder)
10. Licking Angel Cakes on the Astral Plane (H. Schilder)
11. The Reluctant Spy (E. Dyers, S. Newman, H. Schilder)
12. Polka (E. Dyers, S. Newman, H. Schilder)