Mariama, a programme with South African jazz including Brice Wassey, Moses Taiwa Molelekwa and Sipho Gumede.
Jazz flourishes in South Africa as it does nowhere else in the world. Musicians use Western and American jazz, combine it with traditional African percussion, and transform jazz into an entirely new, exciting form of music. All the CDs that we will play today are of the adventurous South African label Melt 2000, which has released a number of remarkable CDs since the year 2000.
Brice Wassy is a master percussionist, composer and arranger from Cameroon, the country that produces so many good percussionists and bass players. Wassey performed with people like Manu Dibango, Richard Bona, Salif Keita, but also with jazz giants like Jan Luc Ponty. So here we play a different sort of African music: jazz that is not yet so well known in the West.
Sipho Gumede, bass player from Durban, uses both traditional African percussion and (gospel) singers. His CDs contain many famous South African musicians, such as Moses Taiwai Molelekwa and Pops Mohamed.
Moses Taiwa Molelekwa was one of South Africa’s most famous jazz pianists. He comes from a musical family from the Tembia township near Johannesburg. He listened to John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk and Miles Davis at a young age. He was well-known in Europe already, performed at North Sea Jazz and other places. He made a number of great CDs.
The Lotus Blossom CD contains songs from South African and Egyptian musicians such as Pops Mohamed, Greg Hunter, Gloria Bosman and Suzan Hendricks.
1. Anna Yongwa (Brice Wassy).
cd. Brice Wassy. Balengu Village. (2000). BW 2136
2. Shrine Dance (Brice Wassy).
3. Mevum – for King Nfalan (Brice Wassy).
cd. Brice Wassy. Shrine Dance. (2006). BW 089
4. Hammersdale (Sipho Gumede).
cd. Sipho Gumede. Spotlight on Sipho Gumede. (2005). Melt 2000. ACM CD035
5. Down Rockey Street (Moses Taiwa Molelekwa).
6. Genes en Spirits (Moses Taiwa Molelekwa).
7. Dance to Africa (Moses Taiwa Molelekwa).
cd. Moses Taiwa Molelekwa. Genes and Spirits. (2005). Melt 2000. BWSA079
8. Darkness Pass 3 (Moses Taiwa Molelekwa).
cd. Darkness Pass. Moses Taiwa Molelekwa (2006). Melt 2000. MZA009/2
9. Elevator Music.
cd. Pops Mohamed, greg Hunter, Gloria Bosman, Suzan Hendricks. Lotus Blossom (2005). Melt 2000. MZA006
