Friday, May 7, 2010

Kwela and the Pennywhistle


Image Credit: Unknown

Kwela is a happy, often pennywhistle-based, street music from southern Africa with jazzy underpinnings and a distinctive, skiffle-like beat. It evolved from the marabi sound and brought South African music to international prominence in the 1950s.

The music has its roots in southern Africa but later adaptations of this and many other African folk idioms have permeated Western music (listen to Graceland by Paul Simon) and give modern South African music, particularly jazz, much of its distinctive sound and lilting swagger.



Image Credit: Tretchikoff

One reason for the use of the pennywhistle is that it is cheap and portable, but it also lends itself as a solo or an ensemble instrument.

The popularity of the pennywhistle may have been based on the fact that flutes of different kinds have long been traditional instruments among the peoples of the more northerly parts of South Africa, and the pennywhistle thus enabled the swift adaptation of folk tunes into the new marabi-influenced music.



Image Credit: Unknown

I remember, as a kid in the early 60's, being entranced by Kwela buskers playing on the streets of mid-town Johannesburg - the groups usually consisted of three people; a pennywhistler, an acoustic guitarist and a bassist playing a bass constructed from an old upturned tea-box which had only one string ...

Here's an example of the Kwela and the pennywhistle by Spokes Mashiyane:



I hope it makes your day a little brighter ... :)

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20 comments:

  1. I love Kwela - I know it's probably more a Jo'burg thing, but it always reminds me of Cape Town, the salty air, the light sky...

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  2. thanks for the comment Kirsty - i'll be in Cape Town for a few days next week ... I'm looking forward to breathing some sea air ...

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  3. Lovely post, thank you.

    I lived in England a few years back and walked into a music store on a particularly dreary day, missing SA terribly, when I heard it - the store was playing a Spokes Mashaba CD. I sat down on a carpeted step, not minding the people squeezing past me. I listened and closed my eyes, instantly transported back home.

    I shall never forget how Spokes and his pennywhistle magicked me back to my homeland for a few precious moments.

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  4. Hehe - thanks for your memory Rona ... I've never been anywhere out of Africa but I can imagine how hearing the pennywhistle in a foreign land can make one very home-sick ...

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  5. I've never heard Kwela music before. I really enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing this :-) Have a great time in SA.

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  6. Thanks Joyful, I'm glad you enjoyed it ... did your feet start tapping automatically as you listened?

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  7. A great post about a great kind of African music - sorry I can't hear the clip you posted, but our ISP here in Tanzania does not allow live video/music streaming (!!) ... so I'll just whistle the tune instead ;)

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  8. Great memories, I did not realise how much I missed the african music till I heard this!
    Enjoy CapeTown and breathe in some fresh sea cape air for me please. Diane

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  9. Thanks Lynda ... sorry to hear that you can't listen to the video ... I hope you whistle better than I do ... though in truth my whistling is way better than my singing ... :)

    Thanks Diane ... I'll try to get down to the Fish Market in Hout Bay - that's a really good place to get an ocean atmosphere, I can't take any pics though - I have to take my camera in for a service ...

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  10. Thanks for the music - yay! feet a tapping too:)

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  11. Really pretty music. Unique sound. Thanks for sharing this.

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  12. Thanks Becca - as mentioned in the post, Paul Simon's 'Graceland' had a Kwela influence running through it ...

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  13. Actually my feet didn't tap. Instead my thighs were moving up and down to the beat of the music, moving my whole body as I sat and listened. That's like dancing while seated ;-) I remember when Paul Simon's "Graceland" CD came out. It is one of my all time favourites.

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  14. Hehehe ... yeah Joyful ... :) ... "Graceland" is also one of my faves ...

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  15. Hout Bay sounds good. My Dad's ashes are there somewhere floating around. He always wanted to be buried at sea so we thought that the Cape was one of the most beautiful places for him to be. He spent many years at sea in the Merchant Navy during WW11 so I think that this is where his heart always remained.Diane

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  16. Thanks Diane ... I'll remember your note if I make it to Hout Bay ...

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  17. Truly African (or Southern AFrican), not so?!
    Lovely post Graham
    Have agreat weekend
    Gena D
    Thinking Aloud

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  18. Thanks Gena ... you have a good one too ... :)

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  19. Reminds me of the days when I carried my flute around for music class in school. I must say nothing came out of it. Zip. Zero.

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