Owura King ,Seen with Themba Msomi and his band members.
Throughout the past eight decades the world has been presented with the supremacy of John Coltrane: – the timelessness exuding from Take the “A” Train composition of Duke Ellington, or the home longing and evoking Hugh Masekela’s Stimela. At a particular instance, the courting and metaphoric Mbongeni Ngema’s Stimela Sase Zola, and now a paced train known as the Smoke Train Movement has emerged.
The latter is an avant-garde blues train, propelling us into the blue hues of the original African Blues diaspora, fuelled by the authentic concept formulated and informed by the accurate, unwavering and undying spirit of the Blues.
The idea demystifies the Blues as a sub-genre at the apex of jazz and the tentacles of a plethora of melancholic genres worldwide. In truth, the Blues has birthed many genres and continues to be a catalytic and surrogate genre. It is a precursor of sound emanating from harmonic and choruses by the people of the African continent, during the atrocious and inhumane times of slavery.
At the height of this lineage, men were pinioned and forcefully taken away from their birth land and left with no sense of belonging and with no physical attachment to their roots. All they had and were left with was the soft power of songs, melodies and rhythms. Regrettably the verity of their culture and identity has constantly been narrated with untruthfulness.
Simunye Theatrical Voices
Despite this, their footprints will never be erased. The Motherland International Blues and Jazz Festival retraces and paints the scenic trail as the train propels itself, and oscillates into the beginning of a missing piece of the puzzle.
The King of African Blues Smoke J Lawrence has pioneered and reintroduced the music to the tip of its birth right soil. A line up packed with outright and undulating musicians converged to bolster a common drive, ordered and guided the Festival with a spirit that resonates with its people, whilst free of frills and gimmicks.
Gearing the axis were the Simunye Theatrical Faces, with the call of the djembe drum and ululating thump of the marimba. The multifaceted collective ushered in the spirit of togetherness and altruistic oneness. It was not long before the Sawubona Music Jam Band reciprocated and affirmed that there will be no need for caprice, the blues are here at home.
The Lucky Thobela led band aired breeze layers and their interpretations gave a tinge of chance to unlearn and redefine ourselves. The smoothness of Tsepho Junior Mokoena unabatedly simmered the palette of what is still to be presented throughout.
As the wind ascended Themba Msomi graced and rendered to the deities of the Blues , whilst appeasing and reminding them that we have not forgotten about them. It is a plausible rarity hearing the Blues in African languages and dialect. Msomi is an articulate storyteller, sharing sentiments that speaks to the ordinary citizens effortlessly. Once again this is testament that the Blues are our home language.
Striding purposefully into the royalty and beauty of the Blues was Ian King. It is safe to deduce that in standing, he encapsulate why we should never be shy of who we are. This points out that it is evident that his footsteps are guided by the infinite trail of expressive, soft assertion. As the terrain ascended past a terrace, Swaziland based King Don Thobela took to the hill to remind us that the voyage has not been easy.
However, in the midst of happening there is fun, laughter, jubilation and frenetic phases of livelihoods, the audiences found themselves resonating and relating to his travelling encounters and connected similarly to nails and fingertips. When one travels there is time for a breather where one digs into a repository of rest without paucity the Marumo Fam duo treated the audience with elemental jazz, presented without digression. While at helm of this motion, it is telling that this journey does not exclude elders, seniors or younglings. It sums up the notion that it is a journey that needs an amenable heart.
Marumo Fam
At the axle of the festivities were The William Brothers a penta-suite that cross currented as the in-house band were a tight vigil guard of acts presenting the music to the audience. As the sun gyrated home and the evening howled, in walked Smoke J Lawrence. His performance stamped an affirmation that the Blues is the mother of jazz and that they both are from a similar cradle of spirituality. Seeing the maestro fill the air with the billows of his vision coming into fruition, is priceless.
No patron was not marvelled and touched by being part of such impeccable excellence and parting in a journey of truth. Owaru King traversed in heart and spirit to Ghana, here he paid homage to the tip of the continent covering a variety of World and South African staples whilst hoisting his signature home signal. It is unheard of a train propelling with a turbine.
However, alas and behold the dulcet Nkosazana Mashinini cemented the evening with progenitors voicing and closed with her spirited compositions. It was and is here where the modernity of the Blues was heard. Once again the thread of originality sent us out the very beginning of the Blues : A call to the Creator to hear and wipe our tears and remain in and with us. Too soon it was time for us to bid farewell and reflect on the fruits of the evening.
Aptly, for the first time in the diaspora, Soweto was afforded an enthralling experience filled with a distinct and rich tapestry of history. No fanatic would not want to be associated with such altruistic moments of our heritage. We are looking forward to a bigger Motherland Blues and Jazz Festivals in the near interval. What a slam bang. Qubula Zasha !
