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

Derek Gripper :: Jarabi (Toumani Diabaté)

Derek Gripper’s arrangement of Toumani Diabaté’s “Jarabi” at the Long Street Slave Church in Cape Town (May 2012). This performance sees a 21-string kora composition from Mali finding its expression on a six-string classical guitar at the same venue in which Diabaté performed in 2009. Gripper’s work as a “translator” of the West African kora appears on his 2012 album One Night on Earth: Music from the Strings of Mali, which is available from New Cape Records on Bandcamp.

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)

Goema Orchestra :: South Atlantic Suite & Guest Composers

The December 2012 edition of the Cape Town Goema Orchestra showcases an expanded version of McKenzie’s “South Atlantic Suite” (which premièred in September 2012) as well as new orchestral works by Ana Strugar, Maxim Starcke, Reza Khota and Keenan Ahrends. December’s line-up also sees the exciting addition of jazz legend Sathima Bea Benjamin.

With paternal roots on the South Atlantic island of Saint Helena, Sathima Benjamin is a fitting guest at the orchestra’s Saturday evening performances (7.30 for 8pm on 8 and 15 December at the SABC Studios Auditorium in Sea Point). Benjamin, who returned to Cape Town in 2011 after 34 years in New York, will perform her poignant compositions “Africa” and “Music” (arranged for the orchestra by George Werner). Both of these titles appear on Benjamin’s African Songbird LP of 1976, which is being prepared for reissue in 2013 by Matsuli Music.

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.

Derek Gripper :: ’56 (Ali “Farka” Touré)

Derek Gripper launched the “digital” version of One Night on Earth: Music from the Strings of Mali at the South African Slave Church Museum in May 2012. Playful yet poignant, the album sees the unprecedented arrangement of 21-string West African kora music on six-string classical guitar, exploring the compositions of Mali’s Toumani Diabaté (who performed at the Slave Church in 2009). The album also features Ali “Farka” Touré’s “’56,” which is derived from a Guinean revolutionary song. From Conakry to Timbuktu to Cape Town, “’56” speaks of music’s ability to shrink time and space, uniting three seemingly disconnected African states and, coincidentally, a period of 56 years, into a single performance. Night on Earth is being released on CD this month and is available from New Cape Records on Bandcamp.

Goema Orchestra :: Agent of Connectivity

For this month’s pair of Cape Town Goema Orchestra performances, I presented an update on Mama Goema and drew attention to the broader activities of the goema "movement.” I touched on the theme of connectivity and the idea of forging an global sound for the 21st century. We acknowledged special guests Bongiwe Lusizi of Mthwakazi, who saw the show on 8 September, as well as jazz-giant Sathima Benjamin, who attended the 15 September performance. This is how it went:

My involvement with the Cape Town Goema Orchestra began in 2010 with Goema Symphony No. 1, the “happening” that features in the film Mama Goema, which premiered in Cape Town last year. I’m pleased to report that the film was voted best documentary feature at the Tri Continental Film Festival in 2011 and has, to the merit of those in and behind the scenes, reached audiences in Portugal, Colombia, Canada, Switzerland and Scotland.

Over the last couple of years, I’ve been asked countless times what the film is about. I used to brush these enquiries off by saying that it’s about Cape Town music. If I’m feeling mischievous, I might say it’s about a shape-shifter from Pleiades who comes to Earth as a punk rocker, reinvents himself as a jazz cat and then decides to be a composer of symphonies. If I have time, I say it about goema and spend the next three hours unravelling what the film does more efficiently in 55 minutes.

Nowadays, I'd propose that the film about connectivity and that goema is what connectivity sounds like. We used up all the “ubuntu” during the Madiba Years and we had a good time but now we’re into this stuff that grows in Cape Town. And it’s addictive. But it’s good for you. And what is Cape Town if not an agent of connectivity on the planet. It’s no coincidence that East meets West in Africa in Cape Town. And no coincidence that what started as Goema Symphony No. 1 in 2010 became Table Bay Concerto in 2011 in is now adrift with the South Atlantic Suite on route to Mali, Serbia and the Eastern Cape tonight, consciously evoking a goema of the 21st century. You can always detect that familiar homecoming sound but tonight’s programme marks goema’s most challenging, expansive and inclusive move ever.

And so, as we look at where we are now, we see Kyle Shepherd connecting with Japan, Ernestine Deane connecting with Germany, Hilton Schilder re-connecting our youth with the music of the bow. We see Achmat Sabera on a South African postage stamp and a Sabera “gummy” on every single continent on the planet. A Goema Roadshow, featuring Hilton Schilder and Achmat Sabera, visited 10 schools from Newlands to Mitchell’s Plain over the last three weeks reminding over 600 learners what Cape Town connectivity sounds like. We also celebrate the third season of the Goema Orchestra with an EP dropped into cyberspace in the hopes that it will reach the hearts via the ears of listeners around the planet.

Photo © Steve Gordon

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.

Searching for Sugar Man :: Original Soundtrack (2012)

If you’re drawn to the vitriolic dimension of Rodriguez’s 26-song opus and are tracking reactions to Searching for Sugar Man, you’re probably tempted to respond to the media blitz with a pinch of cynicism. A Wikipedia entry, tweets and a rash of Facebook pages? Tick. Official merch and top-dollar eBay memorabilia? Affirmative. Bandwagoning and profiteering? Maybe, but who the fuck cares? Certainly not Rodriguez. “Fame is fleeting,” is the cold fact that he drops on CNN (video below). It’s his highest profile interview ever. His star has never shone brighter. Yet he responds with an air of cultivated detachment. This is not the man who wrote those songs 40 years ago. He’s even wiser.

And as for the unfortunate “Hispanic Dylan” tag that accompanies most mainstream commentary about Rodriguez, perhaps it’s best to identify the truth in it. While “Dylanesque” has come to describe any guitar-strumming singer-songwriter with a taste for poetry and irony, there are certainly Dylan and Rodriguez songs that make great companions. “Sugar Man” speaks to “Tambourine Man” while “Establishment Blues” sits comfortably next to “Subterranean Homesick Blues.” “Forget It” and “It Ain’t Me Babe” are both table-turning reactions to being dumped and “Like Janis” and “Like a Rolling Stone” see Rodriguez and Dylan at their most vividly scornful.

As for Rodriguez’s Hispanic credentials, it’s hard to tell. His strumming technique definitely betrays shades of Mexico but he certainly doesn’t lean on Latin pop sensibilities and is unlikely to ever be anthologised alongside troubadours like Trini Lopez or José Feliciano. More useful are parallels with the work of Leonard Cohen (stick on “Cause” and “Suzanne” in rapid succession) or Lou Reed (the same characters of “Most Disgusting Song” inhabit “Walk on the Wild Side.”) Add Rodriguez (Detroit) to Reed (New York) and Bukowski (Los Angeles) and you can trace the coast-to-coast, downtrodden, urban fallout of Hunter S. Thompson’s wave that broke and rolled back at the end of the 1960s.

All this in lieu of a legitimate review of the Searching for Sugar Man soundtrack. Suffice to say that this compilation is the most astute way of packaging “the best” of an artist who has only released two albums. It’s a combination of songs from both Cold Fact and Coming from Reality with a trio of non-album singles to boot. In short, if you’re certain you’ll only ever be satisfied with one Rodriguez album, this is your best bet. And if what you’ve already got was released before the “Dead Man” tour, you could do worse than support a remastered playlist that Rodriguez will get a cut from. Who knows, insomuch as it describes itself as an “original motion picture soundtrack,” there may even be room for an Oscar nomination if Sony Legacy can bend the “written specifically for a film” rule. One glaring omission, however, is a track or two from his South African concert album Live Fact. Although a rusty Rodriguez fronts a makeshift local backing band, his 1998 tour is central to the film and his interaction with the crowd and “thanks for keeping me alive” quip are golden.
 

Sugar Man :: Bigger than the King, Stones, Beatles & Batman

You’ve heard every story there is to tell? How about this one? A Swedish guy makes a documentary in 2012 about a 1970s folkster from Detroit who returns from obscurity after discovering that he has a large, devoted audience in South Africa. The film culminates in a cathartic 1998 concert marking the musician’s first significant performance in 27 years to an audience who thought that he had died. The film is critically acclaimed and makes big waves in the US and the UK but, and here’s the rub, nobody in South Africa knows that it exists.

The real magic of the Rodriguez “story” (which belongs to different a dimension to the content of his two albums, which I’ll cunningly abbreviate as Fact and Reality) is that it continues to deliver delicious ironies. As such, perhaps its fitting that the dramatisation of this story should see its SA “preview/première” in the margins of the Durban Film Festival after taking the rest of the world by storm. Nevertheless, that the story is being well received abroad is cause for celebration in South Africa insomuch as we're paying dues for 30 years of Cold Fact sales that didn’t include Roriguez in the value chain by playing a role in launching a music career that slid below the US stardom radar in the 1970s.

Truth be told, Rodriguez is currently on his third resurrection. The “Rodriguez Alive” tour in Australia (yes, they also thought he was dead) marked his first circa 1979 through 1981. The second began with the first appearance of Cold Fact on CD in South African in 1991, taking in the release of Coming from Reality (mistakenly identified as his lost debut) in 1996 and ending with his “Dead Man” tour in 1998. The trilogy concludes with the first CD release of Cold Fact in the US in 2008 and features the world première of Searching for Sugar Man at Sundance in January 2012, where it was quickly snapped up by Sony Pictures Classics. In short, there’s room for a prequel and a sequel. Any (more) musicologist detective (filmmakers) out there?

Oh, and by the way, the story of  the other “honorary” South African album, Paul Simon’s Graceland, also premièred at Sundance this year in the form of Under African Skies. As Cape Town vinyl expert Steven Segerman surmises, Simon & Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970),  which appeared about a month before Cold Fact and went on to become the world’s best-selling album for the next two years, was responsible for stealing the thunder from everything  that folk-rock dropped in its wake. Yet, 40-odd years down the line, Simon and Rodriguez share their stories on the same film festival platform with both Graceland and the Searching for Sugar Man Original Soundtrack rubbing elbows in the Sony Legacy Recordings catalogue. “These are the days of miracles and wonder” indeed, to quote the closing words of the Searching for Sugar Man trailer, which inadvertently quotes Paul Simon’s “Boy in the Bubble” from Graceland. Just a weird song title randomly inspired by a trip to 1980s South Africa? Take another look at the cover of Cold Fact. Curiouser and curiouser.