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GUMBOOT GUITAR: ZULU STREET GUITAR MUSIC
FROM SOUTH AFRICA VARIOUS ARTISTS
TSCD923
Remarkable rootsy guitar from the streets of Durban. Recordings by Janet
Topp Fargion & Albert Nene. Text by Janet Topp Fargion.
The guitar probably arrived
in South Sfrica with Portuguese or Arab sailors back in the 16th century,
but it only started to enter vernacular African traditions in the late
19th century. The discovery of gold and diamonds in South Africa at that
time brought large numbers of African workers from all parts of the country
- all looking for new forms of expression and relaxation. Music previously
played on Zulu musical bows was transferred in the new urban environment
to the guitar and often concertina and violin too. the music was called
maskanda.
Musicians played for their own enjoyment, but they also joined miners'
gumboot dance teams to accompany this exhilarating genre. Often lacking
in formal performance areas, most of this music-making traditionally takes
place on the streets of single-sex hostel compounds. These recordings
from 1988 and 1996 feature musicians and gumboot players who live in one
such hostel outside Durban.
• "Exciting, rough and ready grooves " BBC Radio 2 World Music Reviews
• "This is the real deal, street music played by people who work hard all day and play at night or on the weekend. The real roots of South Africa umbaquanga music are right here. There’s a variety of sound on Gumboot Guitar as far as instruments are concerned: on gumboot-dominated tunes, the guitar plays rhythmic chords with a very percussive attack. A pounding beat is also belted out by an accordion or concertina on most tunes…powerful.” Worlddiscoveries.net
