Rhodes University: Hosted Journals
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TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY SABAR DRUMS: INNOVATIONS IN ORGANOLOGY AND PERFORMANCE PRACTICES IN SENEGAL AND THE DIASPORA
Get PDFThis article contributes to the substantial body of publications on South African jazz with information on jazz performance and performers in New Brighton, a township adjacent to Port Elizabeth noted for its vibrant jazz scene and outstanding jazz musicians. The article covers several decades from the heyday of swing bands in the 1940s—50s through the 1960s—70s when New Brighton\u27s premier jazz combo, the Soul Jazzmen, were at the height of their artistry. The role of swing bands in New Brighton and surrounding communities as the training ground for members of the Soul Jazzmen and other local musicians of note is discussed, as well as how the Soul Jazzmen in turn were tutors for musicians of the next generation who became widely recognized artists, composers and arrangers. This is followed by a focus on the Soul Jazzmen and compositions by its members that protested against the apartheid regime in the 1960s—70s. The article is informed by historic photographs, newspaper clippings and information from oral history interviews that richly document how jazz was performed in service of the anti-apartheid struggle in New Brighton
CARÁNGANO AND WOMEN: STORY OF AN INSTRUMENT THREATENED WITH EXTINCTION
Get PDFThis article describes the results of an ethnomusicological study on the carángano, a ground bow instrument played only by women in the small villages of the Colombia Caribbean region. Before the introduction of electricity, the inhabitants contemplated the full moon as the women played, danced and laughed to the sound of this instrument. This instrument is now almost extinct. In this article, the social function, organological structure and repertoire of this instrument are analysed. The relationship between the carángano and other ground bows such as the tingo-talango or the dumbu-kalinga and sekituleghe on the American and African continents is discussed. These musical practices require urgent attention since they harbour musical and identification values belonging to the Colombian Caribbean region while sharing cultural aspects which connect Africans and African descendants across vast distances
ECOMUSICOLOGY, INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE AND ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION IN IBADAN, NIGERIA
Get PDFResearch on Yoruba popular music has tended to draw attention to its interest in romance and the accumulation of wealth. Inadequate attention has been paid to its engagement with the environment. Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State in Nigeria has witnessed perennial flood disasters, and this has been a concern of Yoruba musicians. This article is an ethnographic investigation of the place of music in the flood disasters of Ibadan as addressed in the songs of Yoruba musicians, Kollinton Ayinla, Foyeke Ajangila, Ebenezer Obey and Agbada Owo. The article describes the connections between the cultural past, when indigenous knowledge was respected and flooding was avoided, and the present, when it was forgotten, and flooding became a constant. Based on the very specific, local context of Ibadan, I argue that calls for the return of indigenous knowledge as propagated in popular music could be a way forward in environmental crises currently experienced around the globe
