Blazing a trail: Jazz in a new age of protest
There' a new generation of toyi-toyiing rabble-rousers who need music that articulates their condition. Luckily, as the colourful doek-wearing hipster protesters of #FeesMustFall settle back into their dorms, the Amandla Freedom Ensemble arrive in Cape Town to promote their new album, Bhekisizwe.Led by 29-year-old Soweto-born trumpeter Mandla Mlangeni, the ensemble are gaining critical acclaim for a brand of jazz that is forward looking and connects with the genre's rich political history.Mlangeni's music lends itself to heavy horn arrangements and thick harmonics. The album also features four tenor saxophonists: Swiss jazzman Ganesh Geymeier, Joburg's Oscar Rachabane, Pretoria-born Nhlanhla Mahlangu, and Shabaka Hutchings from the UK.Their collective sound is reminiscent of the jazz made on the heels of the Sharpeville massacre. Think of the Brotherhood of Breath led by Chris McGregor, or Rhythm Down Beat led by Mra Ngcukana in Cape Town in the early 1960s. These bands blazed the trail for generations of South African jazz musicians with a political persuasion.Asked about the importance of this heritage to his creative process, Mlangeni is quick to joke that his band should not be confused with the old Amandla Cultural Ensemble, a group led by struggle stalwart and trombone player Jonas Gwangwa in the 1970s. It was made up of MK operatives and functioned as an ambassador for the ANC during the apartheid years."Obviously our name makes that connection to that older band. But my music makes a statement for my own times. I'm from the streets of Soweto as we see it today, not in 1976. Though that history is very much part of my heritage. It's relevant but only to enhance my focus on our struggles as we go into the future," says Mlangeni.His project strikes the right chord here. The title of the new album, for instance, is a Zulu command to "watch the nation". Bhekisizwe calls on us all to care about the nation.Amandla Freedom Ensemble consists of Mlangeni on trumpet, Rachabane and Mahlangu on tenor saxophone, Ariel Zamonsky playing acoustic bass, Gontse Makhene on percussion and Clement Benny on the drums.Amandla Freedom Ensemble will perform at these Cape Town venues: Straight No Chaser today at 8pm (R80-R140), The Crypt tomorrow at 8pm (R80) and at the Jazz in The Native Yard series on Sunday at 2.30pm (R80)...
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