SABC's 90% rule lets jazz band Top Dog off the leash

23 May 2016 - 09:40 By ARON HYMAN

With SABC radio stations playing 90% local content it could be the ideal time to start the world's first Khoisan jazz band.Launching their first CD last week in front of hundreds of people at the V&A Waterfront, the five members of Top Dog said the "indigenous people of South Africa" should be proud and take back their heritage.The Cape Town session musicians say they started finding their identity while playing as PJ Powers' backing band."It was in the process of recording this album that we found out who we are, not just in terms of music, but in terms of our heritage," said pianist Camillo Lombard.They mix Cape Town's jazz styles with "indigenous melodies"."We want to get our Khoi roots out there. We want to take this music to the rest of the world and we want them to know about who we are as a people," said Lombard. "We are a product of the indigenous people of South Africa mixed with people from around the world."Saxophonist Donveno Prins said the genre they coined came with its share of misconceptions."I think people are confused when they hear the terms 'Khoi jazz' or 'Griqua jazz'. They think it's just a bunch of guys in loin cloths playing bones and shooting arrows," he said.The album's title track, Griqua DNA, features a reading from the Nama Bible and Top Dog say it will be the first time the Khoisan language has featured on radio.The SABC's recent announcement that its radio stations would play 90% local music was a well-timed blessing."The stars have aligned themselves," said Prins.But none of the band's members speak Nama."There are people trying to get that language back so that our kids can learn it," said Lombard...

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