Wednesday, March 07, 2007

 

Pops Mohamed arrives in Cape Town

I am just on my way to the airport to fetch Pops Mohamed, who will be coming to stay with us for a night or two.

Pops is feeling a burst of creativity, and is wanting to collaborate on a new album with Dizu Plaatjies from Ibuyambo (and ex-Amampondo), and so Dizu and his wife will be coming to supper tonight - yes, Lenny enjoys cooking up a storm for as many people as she can, and if there is music involved, all the better!

Pops is bringing me lots of new marketing material, which you can be sure that I will be featuring here over the coming days!

I am also going to be getting some DVD's now, before the airport, from one of our VJ's Inka Kenzia, who recently appeared with the Kalahari Surfers, Dizu, Lungiswa & Friends at Red Bull's Hangar 7, in Austria - so lots more live footage to get excited about!


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[permalink] posted by Rouvanne @ 10:55 0 comments

Sunday, July 23, 2006

 

Max Lasser, featuring Busi Mhlongo


I have mentioned Max Lässer in a previous posting, and his amazing ablum Madamax (BW 2119), and have news that he will be coming to South Africa later this year, through the Swiss organisation Pro Helvitica, to perform a number of concerts around the country with Madala Kunene - just my luck though, they won't be coming to Cape Town, but will have shows in Durban, Johannesburg, Pretoria and Bloemfontein.

Robert Trunz let me present another track from the forth coming Busi Mhlongo Live Urbanzulu DVD, in which she performs the vocals for Max. Lua Lua from the album Between (BW103) features Max playing the Weissenborn lap steel, acoustic guitar, Walter Keiser on drums, Reto von Salis on Percussion, Heiri Kanzig on fretless bass, Christoph Stiefel on Keyboards and even Pops Mohamed on kora. But Busi is the icing on the cake.

Origionally meant to be a solo guitar album, Max found it growing as his musician friends got involved, adding their own musical styles, but it still remained an instrumental album. It was only on invitation from MELT to visit South Africa that Max realised he had to have the vocals of Busi, and ex-Amampondo member Lungiswa Plaatjies, to make his project complete.

Here is Lua Lua, composed by Max Lasser, published by Max Music CH, and coming out in full quality on DVD soon!


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[permalink] posted by Rouvanne @ 11:03 0 comments

Saturday, July 08, 2006

 

Madala Kunene and the ancestors

Yesterday was our eldest sons birthday – Jasper turned 6 and the day was filled with fun things for him, lots of presents and lunch with the family and some of his friends.

With every birthday that comes by, I always think back to his birth and what an unbelievable experience it was to be there to watch him take his first breath. Welcoming him into our lives, with all the excitement and hope that suddenly explodes into your life with that first cry, you know from that moment your life will never be the same.

We wanted his first moment to be special too, an were fortunate that the Milnerton Medi-Clinic let us welcome Jasper with music of our choice. We had chosen a very peaceful album by one of my favourite artists, Madala Kunene, and his collaboration with Swiss guitarist Max Lässer on Madamax. Madala has revived the 'Madalaine' style of guitar playing, combining blues & soul with African folk, developing the trance-like quality of his Zulu folk singing, and it is beautiful on this album.

With vocals from Lungiswa Plaatjies, and the American lap-steel guitarist, David Lindley, contributing, this album just perfectly fitted the birth of our son. An album with African and European influence in all the right places, the working together of two worlds, the common language, and as Max described it, “that meeting Madala Kunene was like finding a brother from another culture”.

Madala has some other very powerful albums under his belt, as Maskanda’s popularity grows world-wide; he has released Uxolo, Kon’ko Man, and First Double One and Two with Madala & Baba Makoena Serakoeng featuring Sibusiso Bernard Mndaweni, and some other very powerful albums through Musical Energy Loud Truth.

Madala is a very humble man, and on the many times that I have been able to sit with him and talk, I have always felt very grounded, relaxed, and slightly in awe. I know that Madala writes his songs from the dreams that his ancestors deliver to him, and listening to his tracks, you can feel their presence. In particular I find this true with Khon’ Othwele from the Uxolo album and also Kon’ko Man. Mabi Thobejane is on percussion, and the two of them take you on a sensational journey, making you rise with the rhythmic beat, rattle and guitar riffs, the cow bells talking to you until they slowly set you down, decreasing the speed and accentuating the subtle sounds; as if to put you gently back to sleep.

This is listening music, music for the soul.

And celebrating Jaspers birth date once again makes me listen and appreciate again how beautifully timeless Madala’s sounds are.

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[permalink] posted by Rouvanne @ 01:53 0 comments

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