I first heard Miriam Makebe when she was introduced by Harry Belafonte on his album, Returns to Carnegie Hall. Here was a voice that sounded so forceful and could be very sweet at the same time. She impressed me to no end. For decades thereafter, I kept hearing about her. Then I came across this record called The Voice of Africa.
In the liner notes on this record in 1964, Hugh Masekela, himself an accomplished musician, wrote:
Nothing can stop the eruption of a volcano, the bursting of a cloud, the rising of the tide, the blowing of the wind or the shining of the sun. The break of dawn is an inevitable but beautiful phenomenon.
Africa's dawn is breaking, her liberation flows south, her "winds of change" whistle across her plains, her ocean's tide of freedom rises. the cloud has burst and the long drought of oppression will soon end.
Africa's music has always flowed, its strains travel with the breeze, it suffers no droughts, it rains on its young crops, it has risen like the tide and now erupts - the world hears its sweet melodious strains in pleased amazement.
The force of Africa's endless but beautiful music gives birth to countless musicians, singers, dancers, poets, authors, actors and philosophers. Miriam Makeba is a gigantic tree in this great forest of art. She is the pride of her people. At home, we call her "Zenzile," "Nut Brown Baby," "Nightingale," and we speak of her with deep joy.At home, audiences had pleaded with her to repeat a song as often as ten times. She is the first eruption of lava and rock to reach these shores; the volcano still roars and more lava and rock can be expected.
Most of the songs in this album were sung in fond remembrance of all those people at home who make music and the people for whom they make it.
Mayibuye is a cry to the people to come together and share their difficulties in the manner and fashion our forefathers, Chaka, Moshoeshoe, Ngika, Sekhukhuni, Nzilikazi, Khama and Hintsa would have been proud of.
Uyadela is an appeal to a friend not to give up so easily, and in the language of our forefathers it says: "When all the beasts of the earth had gone to fetch their tails, the rock-rabbit had long given up all hope, hence the absence of his tail."
These two songs are performed as they would be presented at home. These are the sounds of our Friday and Saturday midnight-to-dawn dances.
The instrumental choir behind Miriam has Ramapolo, a young Johannesburger, on trumpet, Jimmy Cleveland on trombone and Morris Goldberg (from Cape Town) on alto.
Langa More sings of one of our dances, the "tap tap": "Come all and see him feed us the food for the feet, we will go mad from the beauty of this dance."
Qhude is the call to the new bride to wake up; the cock has crowed and she must fetch water from the stream; the dawn ushers in a new life to the people.
Mamoriri is a call to the people to witness a miracle; there is someone in the fields milking a bird.
Nomthini is a love song. "Beyond those mountains, on the other side of those rocky hills, there lives a beautiful girl, Nomthini. I am without wings, else would I fly to her side. I have never seen Nomthini, not when she was alive."
These songs are sung at weddings for hours; the instruments substitute for the choir.
Le Fleuve is from West Africa. It speaks of the miracle of the constant flow of the river, the river that can never be stopped.
Come to Glory is a West Indian gospel chant. It is complemented by the voices of Beverly, Judy and Fran White. These three ladies have been surrounded by music all their life, thanks to Mr. Josh White. They sing behind Miriam here and the musical dialogue can be traced back four hundred years.
Lovely Lies was written in Johannesburg by a fellow artist, saxophonist Mackay Davashe. Guitarist Samuel Brown and bassist Bill Salter are like two great rocks behind Miriam's wailing.
Tuson is from Cuba and proves Miriam's versatile musicianship.
Shihibolet is a song from Israel. It is sung after the good harvest to express gratitude to God for a good crop.
Willow Song (from "Othello") is yet another diversion in the "Nightingale's" unpredictable repertoire. Miriam's accompanist, Mr. Marvin Falcon, is on guitar and her drummer, Auchee Lee, plays the flute.
All my gratitude to Miriam for all the flowing, bursting, rising, blowing and shining sounds she makes. A child of Africa's dawn, erupted from the burst of the long-dormant volcano.
No comments:
Post a Comment