2/1/2024 0 Comments South africa townships![]() ![]() Saxophonist Salim Washington performing at KwaSec in Gugulethu as part of his Afrika Love Tour But playing under an apartheid regime was challenging, and many South Africans could not get into Cape Town music venues if they were not white. Audiences last year before the coronavirus pandemic dancing to vocalist and guitarist Msaki’s music at KwaSec in Gugulethu ĭuring the years of apartheid, the system of oppression that racially segregated white and non-white South African citizens, Black people were forced to relocate to the fringes of the city, to new settlements that would become townships.īack in the 1960s, impromptu jazz sessions took place on the weekends in these communities, often in people’s front rooms and backyards. Now, young local musicians are reclaiming the space and inserting themselves into Cape Town’s musical narrative which, for decades, has been tailored to the upper and middle classes. Some of the country’s top jazz musicians grew up in these areas, but until JiNY came along, the music was not hugely accessible for people living here. ![]() He grew up in Langa, Cape Town’s oldest township, just six kilometres (four miles) northwest of Gugulethu. Mrubata, meanwhile, had made the journey down from Johannesburg to play in his home city in May. Following a strict COVID-19 lockdown in South Africa’s winter months of June and July, the jazz event is restarting on Sunday with local singer-songwriter Tankiso Mamabolo. This is Jazz In The Native Yards (JiNY), a regular concert that sees some of South Africa’s best musicians take the stage in Gugulethu, one of Cape Town’s largest townships. ![]() A wave of applause follows and before long, people in the front row are up and dancing. Cape Town, South Africa – Wine glasses clink and friends share laughs as the sunshine beats down onto the back yard of No 52, Kwa Sec, on a Sunday afternoon.Īs the hubbub dies down, McCoy Mrubata plays a smooth solo on saxophone before the double bass and drums kick in a few bars later. ![]()
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