Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Patrick Duff in Gug's
Being a Proudly South African company, we spend a lot of time focusing on that which we know, and of course enjoy. Sitting in the office this morning with Nicole, who started with us today, I had to explain that 95% of the music she will hear in the office will be from the artists we promote.
I couldn't exactly sit here bopping away to the Back Streets Boys or Britney Spears, when I feel that our artists are so much more exciting. We market music that lasts longer than the fly-by-night groups that become a sudden rage, only to be forgotten within weeks, when some other similar group make the next popular hit.
But as a result of this, I am not always aware of who people are when I meet them - and even more exciting is that I often get to interview artists, and only discover during this, what impact they have made in the world of music.
Patrick Duff was one such artist. As the ex-frontman to Strangelove during the eighties and early nineties, the group had a very successful run and built up a huge following around the world. When I interviewed him I had no idea... I just thought he was cool for coming and collaborating with Madosini, and that we seemed to connect easily when talking about the music.
So the interview that follows tells it like it is. Patrick explains his life patiently and in interesting detail, and its his take on how World Music has changed his life that I found the most interesting.
Although this movie is 20MB (beware if you have a slow connection), I think it is worth the download time, as it has interesting insight into the artist and his world.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Madosini - Queen of Langa
She's is such as amazing personality - as I keep mentioning - and her music is true "of the African earth". This lady who mesmerizes audiences the world over lives in a humble flat that she shares with a number of other people. And i know for a fact that all her earnings go towards the welfare of her grandchildren, while she chooses her simple exsistance is a very run down part of Langa township.Now that Brenda Fassie, also one of Langa's many talented children, has passed on, I really do believe that Madosini deserves the title of Queen of Langa.
Here is another short video clip I was fortunate enough to be able to capture with famed British artist from the group Strangelove, Patrick Duff when he came to rehearse with Madosini and Vuyo Katsha of Amampondo. It's rough and ready, and the builders outside had probably heard it all before, but it shows how two worlds can meet and be creative in the shortest time - something we like to refer to as in the spirit of ubuntu...
Patrick Duff, Madosini Manqina & Vuyo Katsha, Gugluthu outside Cape Town, 15 July 2003.
Labels: Amampondo, Brenda Fassie, Langa, Madosini, Patrick Duff
Friday, July 14, 2006
Madosini & Patrick Duff
I am focusing on Madosini at the moment because we saw her again yesterday - arranging her visa's to travel to the 5th International Jew's Harp Fesstival in Amsterdam's Muziekgebouw Aan 't Ij on 28 July.
She's such an amazing mama, and even though we can't communicate through language, we understand eachother so well.
It made me think of her performances at the WOMAD festivals that she performed at with Patrick Duff, of Strangelove, (as I mentioned in my earlier post) and some recordings I had made of their rehearsals at Vuyo Katsha's house in Montana, Gug's in July 2003.
Patrick had been mesmerized by her performance the year before and had received a grant from the Performing Rights Society in the UK to create a cultural collaboration with Madosini.
And so he flew out for two weeks so they could get to know each other and play around with idea's before getting into serious rehearsals and performances in the UK and a recording in Singapore. This video is grainy and low quality, but I am searching for the tape!
Patrick and Vuyo accompany Madosini as she tells a Xhosa story.
I think the whole experience with Madosini inspired Patrick to get his head back on his shoulders, because soon after his experience of touring with her, he wrote and recorded his latest album Luxury Problems where his songs define a more collected Patrick Duff.
I have a full interview with him where many people will be amamzed at how calm and peaceful he was, sitting on the floor in the middle of a foreign township. He was in a place he really wanted to be in, with a very special new friend - Madosini Manqina.
Labels: Madosini, Patrick Duff, Strangelove, WOMAD
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Madosini - The Queen of Pondoland music
An artist very close to our hearts at Peak is Madosini Manqina from Langa in Lenny spent a good month with her when we took Amampondo on tour to the
Though essentially a solo artist and story-teller, its her mastery in the making and playing of the Uhadi (berimbau), Isitololo (Jews Harp) Umrhubhe (mouthbow), and she adds this speciality to the sound of many groups and collaborations.
She's been a regular part of Amampondo, she worked with Thandiswa Mazwai on the short film Spirit of the Uhadi and her album Zabalaza, and has appeared at WOMAD Festivals in the UK, Australia, Singapore, and many more, with artists like Patrick Duff (ex-Strangelove) and Vuyo Katcha. She also represented the Xhosa tribe in the multi-cultural Jazz ensemble PedXulu (a combination of Pedi, Xhosa and Zulu musicians)
One of our most exciting experiences with her was our first attempt to send her off on tour with the Pondo's in 2002. The group were on their way to perform with the The Sto:lo (People of the River) or First People of Chilliwack, Canada, and we had booked all the travel and accommodation using the information we had received from the group, including Madosini. But when we arrived at the BA check-in counter, they refused to let her on the plane, as the name on her ticket was different from the name in her passport...
You feel the bottom of your world fall out from under you when this happens, and the only thing to do, is to move into four-wheel drive and pull the funniest faces you can to ensure the artist is on that plane.
The ground-staff were amazing, and gave us the time of the flight to Johannesburg to sort it out with the airline there – they let her on the flight as long as we knew that there was a chance she would be stranded in JHB – motivation enough for Lenny to pull out all stops and beg, plead and threaten. What a relief it was to eventually get her on the flight to Canada later that night.
It was only later that same year, when we sent her to WOMAD Canary Islands when another abnormality was sorted out. Madosini’s birth date made her out to be a beautiful, sprightly 82-year old. We were always amazed at how good she looked, with clear skin and eyes, and great spirit, but the Spanish didn’t feel the same.
When travelling to
It was only during the research and filming of Thandiswa’s Spirit of the Uhadi while in the
Madosini is currently performing in
Madosini lives in a single room in an old hostel in the heart of Langa with 6 other adults, and 4 children under the age of 6.
But it’s her music that opens the mind to the wide sky of the
Madosini Manqina – the Queen of Pondoland.
Labels: Amampondo, Langa, Madosini, Patrick Duff, Thandiswa Mazwai, Uhadi, WOMAD
