The Kwela Project » zimbabwe http://www.kwela.co.uk Pennywhistle jive from South Africa Sun, 26 Jul 2009 09:10:31 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 Skokiaan http://www.kwela.co.uk/skokiaan/ http://www.kwela.co.uk/skokiaan/#comments Tue, 02 Oct 2007 21:48:53 +0000 chris http://www.kwela.co.uk/skokiaan/ Bulawayo Sweet Rhythm BandSkokiaan is a significant instrumental that was composed, performed and recorded originally in South Africa’s neighbour, Zimbabwe. We’ve already seen that the influence of kwela has been felt in this country, and although Skokiaan is described as tsaba-tsaba, it shares a common ancestor with kwela: marabi.

The instrumental was later recorded by Gallotone (which, perhaps, lead to the confusion as to whether it was a South African-composed tune or not) and released in the USA by London Records. It met with considerable success and has been recorded by loads and loads of artists since, practically right up to the present day.

It wasn’t until I discovered the learning2share blog a couple of weeks back for the Willard Cele kwela project post that I had a chance to really hear Skokiaan, and I thought that it would be a great idea to have a go at arranging the melody for whistle in the kwela style.

Just about everything that is currently known about Skokiaan can be found on the Skokiaan Wikipedia page, so take a look there and then come back to learn how to play some of it!

The arrangement I’ve made can be played on a Bb whistle and will sound in tune (more or less) with the Bulawayo Sweet Rhythms Band recording on learning2share. You’ve got the introduction and first 24 bars; after that you’re on your own :-)

Happy kwela-whistling!

Skokiaan melody, maybe originally played by August Musarurwa.

]]> http://www.kwela.co.uk/skokiaan/feed/ 0 Take Cover! Zimbabwe Hits http://www.kwela.co.uk/take-cover-zimbabwe-hits/ http://www.kwela.co.uk/take-cover-zimbabwe-hits/#comments Mon, 21 May 2007 22:07:24 +0000 chris http://www.kwela.co.uk/?p=9 Take Cover! cover
Every now and again I find something really interesting as a result of the kwela project. It’s not always about kwela either, but in this case I’d say there’s quite a strong connection. ýlowek scavel-cronek is a blog that presents music that can’t be found in the shops any more. The first track on Take Cover! Zimbabwe Hits is by the Jairos Jiri Sunrise Kwela Band; not a whistle to be heard in this guitar-led song, but the three-chord-trick used in kwela is clear. But it’s the hugely reverberated guitar-percussion impressions of machine guns that the listener remembers.. it is a very disconcerting juxtaposition!

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