South Africa Music
SA Field Band Foundation Gets Big Boost from Lincoln Center
Your Correspondent was in the right place at the right time on Friday evening, attending a function designed to raise awareness about the Field Band Foundation, an organization whose purpose is to keep at-risk youth in South Africa off the streets. The FBF offers kids the chance to learn an instrument, acquire a little creative discipline, and get involved with the world-wide marching band movement. At any given time, over 5,000 young men and women in SA are blowing horns, beating drums and having fun, courtesy the FBF.
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Wycliff Gordon & FBF
Donate to the FBF.
Over the past two weeks, the Foundation has played host to jazz musicians from the Lincoln Center in New York, USA - led by the extraordinary Wycliff Gordon, a trombonist who leaves the indelible impression of a master practitioner of New Orleans (pronounced N’Ohlins) jazz. The group of FBF kids on steel drums and xylophones who welcomed us to the reception were a tough act to follow - but when, in an act of impromptu generosity for which I and my Lovely Assistant will forever be grateful, Wycliff walked out with his septet, and began to play, we momentarily lost all sense of time and place.
Date: May 22nd, 2006 |
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Snoop Dogg Misses His Flight
The “American hip-hop artist Snoop Dogg”, as he is known to the press in South Africa, spent last night in police custody in London, instead of on stage in Johannesburg, where he was due to perform as part of the Premier Foods People’s Concert.
(Only in South Africa could a name as dull as Premier Foods - makers of Snowflake Flour and Iwisa Mielie Meal! - be coupled with a name as redolent of itchy rebellion and straight up gangsta cool as Snoop’s, y’all. )
Date: April 28th, 2006 |
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Local’s View: Mzwakhe Mbuli, the People’s Poet!
Spotted! Mzwakhe Mbuli, the People’s Poet!
Where? Johannesburg!
The People’s Poet
Loving SA yet? Yes!
Why? “Once again, I extend my most profound appreciation, sincere thanks and volumes of love. Every person who has visited my website deserves a gold medal. My moment of glory shall dawn. Okuhle nokumhlope. God sustained, I am unsinkable.” (Mzwakhe.org)
Highlight so far? Early parole!
Sore points? Corruption, abortion, rape and the shackled minds of many fellow Africans.
Travel tips for others? Travel to South Africa in person - or just in heart and soul, through my gentle but …
Date: April 13th, 2006 |
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Kalahari.net, SA’s Amazon.com
Meet Kalahari.net!
South Africa’s answer to Amazon.com, it’s a virtual emporium of books, music, videos, DVDs, games, electronic products and more. Many of the items for sale on Kalahari.net are available via next-day delivery - especially Christian-themed books and music - and the online shopping is as safe as with the net’s major dotcoms.
Kalahari.net Shopping Tips:
Perfect for buying gifts for your South African friends, even after you’ve left the country.Convenient Computicket booking service for movies and theatre.Excellent “Crafts & Hobbies” section.Gift certificates available.
Date: March 31st, 2006 |
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Lion Finally Sleeps in Copyright Jungle
Solomon Linda, who composed the Zulu melody Mbube in 1939 - which later featured on world music charts as Wimoweh and The Lion Sleeps Tonight - can rest in peace. His descendants have settled a copyright lawsuit with the American-based music company that “owns” and licenses the song. Linda will now be recognised as the song’s composer, and royalties will accrue to his family.
Somewhat ironically, the law which the Linda family relied upon to prosecute their claim derives from a 1911 British Empire statute, promulgated when the same British Empire was actively dispossessing black South Africans of such things as …
Date: February 17th, 2006 |
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Catch The Goldfish Live at The Backpack - and Support Spinal Injury Sufferers
Alert! Party with The Goldfish coming up at The Backpack! But first, some background info…
Kilimanjaro ASI
If you don’t know the story of Colin Javens, prepare to be astounded. Colin, 25, is a tetraplegic - he lost the use of his arms and legs in a diving accident - but that didn’t stop him from driving overland from Stoke Mandeville Hospital, in Buckinghamshire, UK, to Cape Town earlier this year, in an effort to raise funds for his charity, the Colin Javens Spinal Injury Trust. The Trust gives money to organisations - …
Date: May 9th, 2006 |
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Oppikoppi Easter Festival
Waking up at 9 am was already considered late for the hardcore beer-drinkers at the Oppikoppi Easter Festival. We walked from our tents to the outdoor bathrooms to brush our teeth as a group of people returned from playing a round of beer golf and began their morning braai of sausages and eggs. “Four!” shouted a drunk man as he swung his golf club at the beer can he had just drained.
Drinking made up just a fraction of the festivities during the weekend festival, where bands - mostly from South Africa - came together for three days to play rock and punk against the backdrop of the hills in Northam, Limpopo Province.
Date: April 22nd, 2006 |
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Cape Town Jazz Festival Tonight!
Jazz lovers, don’t forget that “Africa’s Grandest Gathering”, the Cape Town International Jazz Festival kicks off tonight at the CTICC! Over 40 musicians are primed to groove - and the headline act is none other than the fabulous Mr. Jose Feliciano himself.
Jazz Fest Links: Jazz Fest Homepage | SA Blog Coverage | CTICC
Date: March 31st, 2006 |
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Cape Town Power Outage: Koos Gets His Revenge on Eskom
Koos Kombuis is a regte South African original, known primarily for his music, but also as a dabbler in many other genres of the arts.
He has recently added blogging to his renaissance-man palette, and his blog currently features a real gem: a new song recorded just for Eskom.
Eskom, it will be recalled, is the national electricity provider, which is currently struggling to do its job in the Western Cape. (Click here for SA Blog’s power failure coverage.)
Koos serenades this fine institution with lyrics that perfectly - and profanely - capture the gees of the times in our beautiful …
Date: March 17th, 2006 |
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Jose Feliciano to Headline Cape Town Jazz Fest
Jazz lovers swooned to yesterday’s news that Puerto Rican musician Jose Feliciano will headline this year’s Cape Town International Jazz Festival.
At 60, Feliciano remains famous for his brand of Latin artistic versatility - he’s a jazz musician who knows few boundaries, having had hits with a cover of the Doors’ Light My Fire, the more traditional Che Sara, and his own classical composition, Entrada de Bilbao.
More on the Jazz Fest: APassion4Jazz | Google NewsBook a ticket: ComputicketMore on Jose: FantasticFeliciano | Wikipedia
Date: February 16th, 2006 |
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