Tag Archives: mashiyane

Shisa Phata Phata

June 19, 2008 – 3:44 pm

Its about time there was some practical, hands-on music around here, and to this end I’ve transcribed|arranged|made-up the short and sweet solo section from Spoke’s Mashiyane’s song called ‘Shisa Phata Phata’ (composed by a ‘R. Msomi’).
Phata Phata was a popular dance “down Jo’burg way” (or sometimes “down Gauteng way“) as Miriam Makeba reminds us in [...]

By chris | Posted in Bands and Musicians, Broadcast, Instruments, Playing, Recording, Weblogs | Also tagged , , , , | Comments (3)

Inkomo Zodwa

September 11, 2007 – 10:35 pm

The song Inkomo Zodwa was recorded by Miriam Makeba and the Skylarks in March 1959 and features Spokes Mashiyane on the pennywhistle. It is accredited to the South African playwright Gibson Kente. I originally got hold of this track on The Rough Guide to the Music of South Africa, and you can too (although I [...]

By chris | Posted in History, Playing, Recording | Also tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)

Learn Kwela

July 17, 2007 – 2:28 pm

With a web site with as little traffic as the Kwela Project, it’s pretty easy to notice what kind of things are bringing visitors here. For example, Sunday’s BBC Prom performance by the Buskaid Soweto String Project, which you can still listen to online, resulted in a number of visits that had been referred from [...]

By chris | Posted in Playing | Also tagged , | Comments (4)