If you’ve ever wondered how “35 pennywhistlers and two drummers, dressed in Scout hats, kilts, tartan sashes, and neckerchiefs” could possibly be connected to the 1956 Alexandra bus boycott, then David B. Coplan’s essay Sophiatown and South African Jazz: Re-appropriating a Cultural Identity is for you. Telling the story of life, and music in particular, during Sophiatown’s brief 60-year lifespan, Mr Coplan provides a compelling account of the quest for genuine new-urban cultural expression in a time of both increased opportunity and oppression. Budding kwelaleses (what is the collective noun for kwela-players???) might be particularly interested in the substantial section that describes the birth of kwela (as recognised as an urban phenomenon, as opposed to a continuation of herder-flute traditions) to its demise, and how it relates to the melting pot of freehold-Sophiatown.

When you walk down Louis Botha [Avenue], you see wonders.
Shoes are worn out.
People are taking their jackets off.
It is hot, and people are walking on foot to work.
There are no busses, no motor cars.
We shall not ride! They [busses] are not ridden!
They [busses] are not ridden! We shall not ride!

The Alex Casbahs – Azikhwelwa (‘We Shall Not Ride’)