REMEMBRANCE:
Heita all! Back in 2009, I was doing a PR interview for Ownership on Radio 2000 in Jo'burg with Angela Ludek (Hi Angel!). It also happened to be Madiba's 91st birthday on that day so at the close of the interview, she asked me (just as she asked the umpteen or so previous guests that day) what I would like to say to Madiba on his birthday. I remember kind of balking because I didn't feel like there was anything that I could say that either hadn't already been said by the previous guests (leaving me to sound pretty unoriginal) or would't fall short of worthy for he who is really one of the greatest and most impactful members of our species in history.
Well it's sort of how I feel now only instead of a handful of previous interviewees, we're talking the whole bloody world now - including some of the worlds most well spoken and erudite statespersons, scholars, journalists, poets, musicians etc... . I think it's fair to say that most of the time when we use superlatives, it's really hyperbole, but in the case of Mandela: not. Still feeling a bit unqualified to expound on all that Madiba was to humanity, I realize that it's a very human thing to want to publicly express our feelings in a situation like this regardless of how articulate (or in articulate) we are and I'm no exception. So I'd just like to share a couple of public comments that stood out for me, my 2 cents more, one pic that says it all and a little something from my heart.
Desmond Tutu called Madiba "a moral colossus" and President Obama called him one of the most "profoundly good human beings that any of us will share time with on this earth." That pretty much says it for me emotionally, but let's not forget that his political acumen ran just as deep as his humanity - he was one of the most brilliant statesmen and politicians of all time. All that said, nothing sums up his impact for me, better than the pic off to the side here
Hamba kahle Tata. Siyakuthandanjalo.
NEW CHRISTMAS RELEASE:
 |
| AVAILABLE NOW - click here! |
OK onward then. With it being the holiday season and all of the attention focused on South Africa right now, I decided it would be nice to release a couple of South African style Christmas songs that I've had on my mind and the back burner for a while now.*
* (more on how this all came about at the bottom).
Ukhisimusi Omuhle - A South African Christmas is a digital "45" that I'm making available exclusively (for now) on my official download website. As noted in the announcement that went out on the fan page, it's a
festive two-song offering celebrating Christmas, in a South
African style, with the songs loosely interpreting 2 popular Christmas carols -
conveying the emotional spirit of their western counter parts while
drawing on South African traditions for their musical character. The "A" side is a sort of Silent Night" like interpretation and it features Sis Thuli Dumakude giving a captivatingly beautiful and tender vocal performance.
The "B" side is a more playful (and a bit more obvious) interpretation of Jingle Bells that I recorded on mbiras. I tried to strike a nice balance between the "voice of the ancestors" resonance of the traditional Shona playing style with the classic grandeur of the Western Christmas carol form - sort of Mujuru meets Dickens if you will (chuckle). I think the songs are beautiful, joyous and playful and hope you will too!
For now, it's only going to be available during the holiday season. It makes a unique and clever stocking stuffer and it's only *2 bucks!* I hope you'll get a copy for yourself, a few more (or many!) to give as gifts for friends and family (there's a gift option as you check out) and spread the word (and cheer) to everyone else you know in your social networks! And when you're all through, you can sit in front of the tree with a nice cup of hot chocolate or rooibos, with your "buds" in, celebrating Christmas Mzansi-style!
Merry Ho Ho to all, Ukisimusi Omuhle, Happy Holidays and thank you all for supporting artist-owned music. And of course I'd be remiss if I didn't tag this with:
Uxolo
Ema
*PS - A little more background on this project if you're interested:
Back when Thuli was still with Lion King on Broadway, she had called me to see if I'd participate in some sort of "Broadway Stars" Christmas project either performing with her or recording a song for a compilation CD to sell through Broadway Cares for AIDs funding. As we were brain storming which X-mas song to do I kept feeling, "I know it's for a good cause but it all feels sooooooo cliche." So I started thinking, "What if we did something that was more South African?" We thought of a couple X-mas songs that we could translate into Zulu but again, it just felt too contrived. Then I thought, what if instead of *translating* a song into Zulu and just wrapping the original music in a South African veneer, we create an *interpretation* that lyrically and musically conveys the spirit and emotional tenor of whatever song it is, but is composed from South African cultural sensibilities?
So at one point in the studio, I was explaining the concept to Thuli. I started playing a traditional Maskanda guitar pattern, softly and slowly to demonstrate how we could interpret one of the many traditional Christmas ballads.Thuli started tenderly repeating ubusuku obuhle (beautiful night) and usefikile uJesu (Jesus has arrived) and even found a way to hint at a familiar melody. Even in this raw form it was so beautiful and intimate, that I immediately tossed up a couple of mics to capture it. We recorded the basic track right there on the spot in one take. Then she went back and threw in a couple harmonies for good measure and BAM! Out of the park! We had a Zulu Silent Night.
The concept went from one song to an entire album. We started brainstorming songs: "How 'bout a 'Scthathamiya Hark the Herald? Or an Mbira Jingle Bells? Or a *MARABI* Santa Claus is Coming to Town???" Oh man all the synapses were firing now. And now we were getting excited bout the possibilities of offering it up alongside the Zulu beadwork animals that Thuli provides to Lion King through her women's self-help organization, Thembalethu Beaders - the sale of which benefits the women who make them as well as provides Aids funding for Broadway Cares.
Sadly, there were too many complications on the organizational end and the full project ended up on the shelf. But not before I managed to rough out a couple of the ideas in the studio. I even got Tony Cedras of Paul Simon fame (although a great musician/composer in his own right) to come in and lay down just the coolest Marabi piano part for the aforementioned SCICT (we really had so much fun and laughed a lot on that session)! Anyway, I've always loved the concept and hope to revive it. We'll see how the 45 does!
So for now you get a taste of it in my little holiday offering. Merry Ho Ho everyone!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment