Second

Harmonically, bothhighlife (Musical Excerpt 7.3) andmbaqanga (MusicalExcerpt 7.4) use a cyclic structure based on I – IV – (I6/4 or I) – V roots of the Europeandiatonic major scale.

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mbaqanga(MusicalExcerpt7.4)useacyclicstructurebasedonI–IV–(I6/4orI)–V

mbaqangarecordingsbytheBlueNotes

big-bandmbaqanga–mostnotablyintheformandrepertoiresofNtemiPiliso’sAfricanJazzPioneers

‘stretch[ing]overfourmeasures,withonemeasureforeachofthefollowingchords:I–IV-I6/4-V’(Ballantine1993:26).

Theunderlyingharmonicstructureinmarabitypicallyusesthemajor(I),thesubdominantmajor(IV),andthedominant(V)inaperpetuallyrepeatingstructuresuitedtodance.Initsadvancedforminmbaqanga(Africanjazz),thesimplethree-chordmarabiharmonicstructurewasconsolidatedinalengthenedcyclicforminwhichthe(V)rootwasprecededwiththetonicmajorinitssecondinversion(I6/4).

MackayDavashe,aprolificcomposerinthembaqangajazzstyle

Thethree-chordharmonicsystemofmarabiisderivedfromtheharmonicrootmovementoftheEuropeandiatonicmajorscale.Theunderlyingharmonicstructureinmarabitypicallyusesthemajor(I),thesubdominantmajor(IV),andthedominant(V)inaperpetuallyrepeatingstructuresuitedtodance.Initsadvancedforminmbaqanga(Africanjazz),thesimplethree-chordmarabiharmonicstructurewasconsolidatedinalengthenedcyclicforminwhichthe(V)rootwasprecededwiththetonicmajorinitssecondinversion(I6/4).IncomparingthemarabiharmonicstructureanditsseminalpositioninvernacularjazzimprovisatorypracticeinSouthAfricatothatoftheAfricanAmericanbluesinitsrelationshiptojazz,Ballantineexplaineditsbasis‘onacyclicpattern’as‘stretch[ing]overfourmeasures,withonemeasureforeachofthefollowingchords:I–IV-I6/4-V’(Ballantine1993:26).Thisextendedfeatureofmarabiwasarguablywhatdistinguisheditsreappearance–afterithadabsorbedAmericanswinginfluence-fromitsearlierpopularformintheproletariantsaba-tsabaurbandance-musicstyle.

popularSouthAfricanbig-bandswingstyleofmbaqangaorAfricanjazz(MusicalExcerpts2.14to2.19)

Citing the work of a number of prominent scholars on the style of kwela she states, “Academics who have written about kwela have been no more precise, or more in agreement with one another, about the boundaries of this musical style” (Allen 1993, 58).

like tsaba tsaba, its musical traits reveal it as being more of ahybrid, sub-genre of the original styles of South African jazz: marabi, African Jazz and kwela.

This rhythm is typically played with brushes on the snare drum. The first of the three notes is omitted on the snare drum as it is played by the bass drum in the four-note note “four-on-the-floor” pattern. This creates the feel of the groove as a heavyemphasis is placed on the eighth note after beat two and beat four of the bar. An additional snare accent is consistently placed on the last sixteenth note before beat two and beat four of the bar to set up the anticipations before beat three and beat one of each bar. The bass guitar generally phrases around this same three-note rhythmic pattern and plays an important role in defining many of the stylistic features of the music. This will be elaboratedon in the following chapter.

Rhythmically, mbaqanga is, like tsaba tsaba, generally based on a straight-eighth note feel with a driving bass drum on all four downbeats of the bar. This quarter note bass drum pattern, commonly referred to as “four on the floor”, is complemented bythe hands performingvarious orchestrationsof the rhythm below. This universal rhythm is known as the Charleston in American jazz, the Habanerain Cuban Latin music, and the Ghoema in South Africa.Figure 1.2 Charleston/Habanera/Ghoema rhythm

Paul Simon’s heavily mbaqanga influenced Gracelandalbum

characteristics commontomuch South African jazz,such as short repetitive motivic melodies, basslines and drum grooves.

However, in the case of marabi,the threechords were usually played in short two or four bar phrases, and were most commonly voiced as triads in the sequence I-IV-I-V. Due to the preference for diatonic tonality in marabi, few chord extension tones were used other than the occasional addition of a major6thto chord IV and the use of the dominant 7thon chord V. The resulting progression is the iconic I-IV6-Ic-V7which became the harmonic foundation of the South African sound.

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Indlamu, the type of traditional dance music the track is based on (and incidentally one of the styles that influenced mbaqanga), is usually played at a faster tempo. Makhathini recounts that he was trying to capture how it would be to dance with the very ancient forefathers and mothers, thus accounting for the slower tempo (Makhathini, 2020). The track titles ‘Ehlobo’ and ‘Okhalweni’ are Zulu expressions meaning ‘in the summer’ and ‘from the waist’ respectively.

ghoema beat in compositions such as ‘Zimology’ and ‘Spirit of Hanover Park’, or his use of the uhadi in this ‘Xam Premonitions (Cape Genesis – Movement 1, 2012)

Shepherd’s use of marabi and marabi-style harmonic progressions are Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za36 evident in tracks like ‘Coline’s Rose’ (A Portrait of Home, 2010) and ‘Zimology’ (fineART, 2009)

n Pascal’s definition of style: ‘the manner in which a work of art is executed [...] which is orientated towards relationships rather than meanings, [...] it may be used to denote music characteristic of an individual composer, of a period, of a geographical area or centre, or of a society or social function’ (Pascal, 2001).

His experiments with irregular meter connect with West African music practices.

Makhathini’s verbal and written commentaries on his music, connotes his identification with and situatedness in Nguni cultural practices). Makhathini’s music often contains forms, rhythmic and harmonic approaches that invoke Nguni music practices, including the use of episodic and cyclical formal principles and the use of modalities. While these musical gestures in themselves are not unambiguous markers of particular cultural practices, they become clearer as spatial coordinates when read together with Makhathini’sdiscourses on his practice.

In this way Dyer’s music is representative of a more extended, pan-African sense space, reflecting not only his geographical locality, but also a broader sense of belonging. An exploration of various music spaces and traditions is prevalent throughout his oeuvre (signalled, for instance, in an album title like World Music), and could be read (or heard) in his approach to compositional form and material, as well as his approach to his instrument. His use of short rhythmical patterns and cyclical forms reminiscent of the organisational principles of the respective African practices he evokes (as, for instance, in African Piano Suite) as well as the imitation of instruments such as the mbira, balafon, kora or marimbas in his piano/keyboard playing could be construed as the means through which he conducts these explorations.

the use of the ghoema beat which is strongly associated with the music of the Cape (e.g. ‘Siqhagamshelane Sonke’ or ‘Our House, Our Rules’ by Shepherd)

As Chapter One pointed out, ‘South African jazz’ derives from the amalgamation of transnational (mainly American) jazz and indigenous South African musics. Although this stylehas many ‘dialects’, there is some conceptual consensus regarding elements that historically came to signify a South African jazz sound. These include marabi (with its distinctive I-IV-V chord progression), mbaqanga (this was especially felt in the importance of the rhythmical drive and interest and repeating harmonic progressions, rather than the other formal attributes Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za85 of mbaqanga itself), ghoema or indlamu, amongst others. One of the ways in which Shepherd, Dyer and Makhathini connect with the South African lineage of jazz, and a sense of place therefore registers in th eir work, is through the incorporation of these elements in certain songs or tracks

Mbaqangaincorporates the instrumentation and musical references of American big band jazzsuch as the use of swing rhythms, multiple brass and/or woodwind instruments (including arranged parts for brass and woodwind sections), as well as aspects of marabi, most noticeably the I-IV-V progression and rhythms from traditional Zulu dances, notablyindlamu(see Figure 1.2) (Sepuru, 2019:12; Ballantine, 2012:7, 80). Mbaqanga was also called ‘African Jazz’ in colloquial settings, as it contained more identifiable jazz elements than marabi.Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za11 Figure 1.2 Indlamu rhythm(Ballantine, 2012:80)In an interview with Ballantine in 1986 (2013:38), the South African jazz pianist Chris McGregor described the dynamics of playing mbaqanga:These (performances) were also my first experiences of building things from riffs. You’d get the mbaqanga chords going, the lead trumpeter or sax player would improvise a melody, and then, in the next eight-bar sequence, out it would come, voiced and all. [...] Out of this would emerge the most amazing complexity of texture, instrumental colour, melodic interactions, the rhythmic interactions of three or four riffs going together, and a soloist in front, improvising. [...] With mbaqanga music, because you’ve simplified the thing and made it circular, you are always confronted with the result: a circuit works itself out, and then you invent very much on formal implications. In contrast, in quite a lot of American jazz you say something and then leave it and do something else. (Ballantine, 2013:37, 39)In other words, the cyclicity of mbaqanga, specifically the repetition of a short harmonic progression, encourages musicians to turn to rhythmic, textural, timbral and melodic interplay among the ensemble members to create interest. Several important elements of mbaqanga survived and characterize South African jazz practices today, such as the use of a rhythmic pattern as a key driver in composition. This has become the basis for South African jazz practice.

Apart from mbaqanga and marabi, other styles also developed due to the amalgamation of local styles and American jazz. One of these is Cape jazz, which Coplan (2013) describes as follows: I use the term ‘Cape jazz’ knowingly, because the Mother City has its own characteristic style, strongly indebted to the American tradition starting with African-American minstrelsy, but mixed with old indigenous rhythms and melodies, mission Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za12 hymnody, ‘Malaysian’ choral music, and Afrikaans Coloured ghoema parade band music. (Coplan, 2013:56)Cape jazz also bears influences from moppies (up- beat Malay choirs) and langarm, as well as music played by bands from the Muslim community (Ansell, 2005:70). A telling characteristic of Cape jazz is the ghoema beat (see Figure 1.3), which Johannes (2010:35) describes as:a low pitch on every beat within the bar of music which gives the music its driving quality with the higher pitch playing a syncopated pattern to complement the singing and prevailing syncopation of ghoema music (Johannes, 2010:35).Figure 1.3Ghoema beat(from Johannes, 2010:35)This influence is more noticeable in the music of Cape Townian musicians such as Abdullah Ibrahim or Robbie Jansen, although it is also regarded as an important element of jazz in South Africa. Marabi, mbaqangaand ghoema rhythms are markers in the broad style known as South African jazz

Marabibecame a popular dance music in these urban ‘ghettos’ between the 1920s and 1940s (Ballantine, 2012:6,7). It is characterized by a repeating a cyclical chord sequence of I-IV-I 6/4- V played over four measures. Marabi was mostly played on pianos, organs, handmade drums or percussion and whatever other instruments were available (Ansell, 2005:29) . The melodies, which were sometimes improvised, were derived from ‘a mixture of Sotho music, Xhosa music, Zulu music and African Christian hymns as well as popular music’ (Ballantine, 2012:34). Figure 1.1 Typical Marabi rhythmic accompaniment(Ballantine, 2012:35)The basic rhythmic accompaniment (see figure 1.1 above) would often be played by someone shaking a tin filled with small stones and constitutes an important stylistic trait of marabi(Ballantine, 2012:35)

From the fusion of marabi music and the American element of swing, developed a style sometimes referred to as “African Jazz” , a term which Ballantine uses interchangeably with “mbaqanga” (Ballantine, 1993:6; Ballantine 2012:7). However, there is some discrepancy about the interchangeable use of these terms. Authors, such as All en (1993: 26) and Thorpe (2018:36), distinguishes between the two terms, mentioning that the former developed before the latter as a description of a style of music that contain elements of both African music and jazz . According to Allen, mbaqanga was also used to describe a completely different musical style, which became popular during the 60s, and therefore Allen prefers the term “African jazz” to avoid confusion. She states, however: The most popular and long-lasting name for this style (African jazz), however, was mbaqanga, which is Zulu for the maize bread which constitutes the staple diet of the majority of South Africans. (Allen 1993:26, 27).Thorpe mentions, the name developed as an expression of “an independent and valuable black South African urban identity” (Thorpe, 2018:36; Allen, 1993:26, 27). Since marabi was already waning in popularity and performance, this new style acted almost as a “regeneration of marabi” (Ballantine 1993:61). Ballantine, similarly, describes the ideological importance of this style:The explicit and conscious acceptance of aspects of a social and political philosophy – in this case New Africanism – into the very constitution of music, was a turning-point in the history of black South African jazz (Ballantine 1993:62)

the American swing style combined with the repetitive blues-like marabistyle gave birth tombaqanga–also referred to as ‘African jazz’in the 1940sand a style that Reddy incorporated into his clazz style from the 1980sonwards.

According to Ballantine Isicathamiyais the most important vocal style to have emerged in South Africa this century.186Parallel to the importance of this pure vocal style, an instrumental style called marabi developed around the time of the First World Warandremained prominent throughout the second and third decades of the 20thcentury.187In Marabi Nights,one of the first books that explored the development and impact of South African jazz, Ballantine describes itas “[a] rhythmicallypropulsive dance music”

What separates mbaqangafrom previous styles is the straight beat. Previously urban black music was rhythmically swung in general.

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The very best players compress enormous inventiveness into that four-bar mbaqangathing. It can also be an eight-bar sequence in which the melody sits only over the third beat of the first bar to the first beat of the second bar. That same bit of melody might happen in a 16-bar sequence, you see. You’d get people working all the options with fascinating results. There were people, like those in the band led by “Cups and Saucers,” 3 working with a really great sensitivity to this kind of structuring, and very cleverly, too.

How did jazz develop in South Africa?

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With these was combined a languorous

cyclical harmonic structure of marabi, a slow, heavy beat

The term mbaqanga — commonly the Zulu word for a stiff, mielie-based porridge

In the early 1940s, he said, many black bands — among them the newly-formed Harlem Swingsters as well as the veteran Jazz Maniacs — started playing in what he termed an African stomp style: We call it African stomp because there was this heavy bealt... There’s more of the beat of Africa in it... the heavy beat of the African, the Zulu traditional...’ The rhythm of this stomp, as he demonstrated it, is immediately recog- nisable as the typical indlamu rhythm: J-ca,% But

Throughout, rhythmic accompaniment would be provided by a player shaking a tin filled with small stones. One standard pattern, as demon- strated by Sililo, is among the most basic and widespread drum patterns of traditional Nguni music. @ @dad o & el

A rhythmically propulsive dance music,marabiwas forged principally by unschooled keyboard players who were a notorious part of the culture and economy of illegal slumyard liquor dens. Harmonically, it rested upon a cyclical pattern stretched over four measures, with one measure per chord: I–IV–I6-4–V. The cyclical nature of this style clearly derived from indigenous sources, repetitive harmonic patterns being typical of traditional African musics.The melodies superimposed on these endlessly repeating patterns sometimes became legendary; sometimes lyrics were invented, in some instances containing political commentary or protest. A significant proportion of these melodies are traceable to local traditional origins. But often the tunes were drawn from other sources, such as the familiar stock of African Christian hymns, the commercially popular tunes of the day or Afrikaans dance music.In performance, cyclical repetitions of a melody or melodic fragment would eventually yield, perhaps, to a similar treatment of another melody or fragment, and perhaps then still others. In this manner, performers would play for long periods without stopping. A simple rhythmic accompaniment would be provided throughout by a player shaking a tin filled with small stones.

Like that of its antecedents, the harmonic base of mbaqanga is the cyclical repetition of four primary chords. Short melodies, usually the length of the harmonic cycle, are repeated and alternated with slight variations, and call-and-response generally occurs between solo and chorus parts. The characteristics that differentiate mbaqanga from previous styles are a driving, straight beat, rather than swung rhythms; melodic independence between instrumental parts, the bass and lead guitars providing particularly strong contrapuntal lines; and electric rather than acoustic guitars and bass guitar

The music style Marabi was characterized by a repeating, ostinato accompaniment, usually in the harmonic pattern I–IV–I64–V, upon which potentially endlessly melodies were improvised.

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