By Philip A. Songa

South Africa has always been a little different from other countries on the African continent. That uniqueness has extended in many directions, but South Africa (SA) is uniquely remembered in the world as the only country to have suffered from apartheid. Despite, and some might say because of, those hard times the country's music industry flourished like no other in Africa. During the dark days, oftentimes when life was bleak, music was something to fall back on, a voice of comfort and protest in the townships where the oppression was at its worst. Township dwellers saw young children trampled to death by the racist white policemen, men taken away, never to be heard of again, women shot and families left wailing.

Through it all the indomitable spirit of the South Africans prevailed. Through the kwela, mbaqanga, jive and marabi music, they kept their hopes alive. Many black South African musicians came up in the deep of the apartheid era, a number of them even being exiled for several years because their musical ideas were not palatable to the racist government of the day. It should not come as a surprise, therefore that most of the recording artists in South Africa are black. "The recording industry has always recorded more black artists than white. The basic market forces have always dictated that", says Damon Forbes the President of Sheer Sounds (SS), one of the prominent labels in South Africa today.

In addition to their role in creating the music, blacks were also its major audience. And as well as being a music of protest in the apartheid era, jazz was also "a music of empowerment," says Mike Perry of Nkomo records. The idea of music by blacks/for blacks made the white government understandably anxious about their position. All recorded music in South Africa had to run the gauntlet of the censorship board in Pretoria--which inspected every tune to make sure it didn't feature banned artists or any kind of subversive language. But black musicians were usually clever enough not to announce any banned musicians on their records, and to phrase their protest in idiomatic terms that white censors couldn't understand. The title of Winston Mankunku's great '60s hit "Yakha'linkomo," for example, is Xhosa for "bellowing bull"--the sound the animal makes as it is taken to slaughter.

The influence of black American music of all forms began to reach the townships of South Africa in the early twentieth century via radio and recordings. "Many musicians tell stories of listening to records on their fathers knees. The various songs were often covered by the bands in the townships, which led to a fusion of local music styles and the jazz/soul/ R&B from the States. It was often a matter of taking an African traditional style or song and playing it with the traditionally jazz instruments i.e. instead of a kora, a guitar, drum kits replaced basic percussion etc. Vocalists who grew up listening to their mothers singing traditional songs moved on to singing with groups that were emulating what was happening in the US," explains Forbes.

Ironically, the political system of the day resulted in the influences of jazz music that had found their way from the US being exported back there and to Europe, albeit with an African feel to it. When the political temperature became too hot, many of the musicians like Hugh Masekela, Miriam Makeba, Abdullah Ibrahim and the like found their way to Europe and America. There they gained audiences for their music, not so much for their prowess, but also because of the circumstances of their homeland. Forbes explains that many of these musicians were in fact unnoticed locally because of the isolation that they faced, but whipped up a storm outside of their country in Europe and the States.

Through them, South African jazz finally reached a global audience. "(Chris) McGregor and his Blue Notes took the British jazz scene by storm, their influence is still being felt in Europe, whereas s people like Abdullah and Hugh had an initial impact simply because they were African exiles fleeing an unjust system and were, therefore, given a platform almost immediately but never made it into the mainstream jazz world", says Forbes. His colleague Mel Puljic, who runs Rerooted Media, the US arm of SS, seems to agree. According to him, some of the post-apartheid artists are finding it a lot harder to break into the US jazz market, compared to the exiles. "I'd hate to say that artists from SA had more cache while subjected to the apartheid system - but I think with patience and commitment the US audiences will soon enjoy the new lions of SA jazz" he comments.

The political atmosphere which led to the escape of many of the South African artists has since dissipated, with the independence of the country and the freeing of Nelson Mandela, the man who came to symbolise the black struggle against apartheid, on April 27, 1991. In fact, the most famous exiles such as Ibrahim, Makeba, and Masekela have since returned to South Africa. But when they do, they find a situation that has changed dramatically, a situation some of them cannot adjust to. When asked whether the returnees had an impact on the jazz scene in South Africa, Damon Forbes answers "Not really, the musicians who stayed behind developed new sounds and followings, while those returning needed to almost start from scratch. Inevitably there were feelings of resentment towards artists who had left compared to those who had stayed. Someone like Hugh [Masekela] on return had to rebuild in that his first album once back was not successful, but four albums later he is massively successful locally. Many who returned never recorded again simply because they were out of touch with the realities of the SA music industry."

Part of the reason for this is explained by the very demise of apartheid itself. It is almost like it had bred, fed and nurtured a particular form of expression through jazz, and once it was no more, that particular brand of music was finished too. The game was over. There was no prize to compete for anymore, there was no goal to score into anymore. Forbes explains "Jazz needed to find a new identity because up until that point it was the music of protest and an art form that struggled under that mantle of apartheid. From being a voice of the people it had to develop into a commercially-viable form of music with the emphasis on hits."

The music responded through integration with other styles. Nkomo Records manager Mike Perry emphasizes this point: "I foresee a very open musical culture here building on strong African roots (Mbaqanga, Mbube, Marabi, and Kwaito; plus the Xhosa/Zulu choral tradition), Cape Goema, quasi Latin, European jazz and rock, and American funk and jazz." These strains are coming through loud and clear in much of today's South African music. And while jazz in South Africa has traditionally been produced by and marketed to blacks, it has acquired a significant crossover appeal with whites as well. Cost plays an important factor, especially among poor working class blacks for whom $12 represents a significant portion of their monthly wages. But that hasn't stopped anyone with a radio to get a chance to absorb the new sounds.

However, Forbes also admits that the new jazz scene is still struggling to get recognition overseas. He explains it thus: "Europe and the US are still in the Makeba/ Masekela/ Mahlatini/ Johnny Clegg and Abdullah Ibrahim frame of mind. There is very little interest in the new breed of musicians, something the exiles were able to overcome." His colleague Puljic at Rerooted Media agrees, but also points out that there are other benefits that have come along. "The change in political climate is at once a challenge and a huge weight removed from the artists' shoulder. Obviously moving beyond apartheid is a wish come true for South Africa. Expression in SA, in music, in writing, and all the arts is much better off now. Unfortunately the booking business in the US is generally conservative - so we're finding that artists who have emerged in the post-apartheid age are not finding many opportunities for performance in the US."

While it may seem like the death of apartheid has, ironically, put paid to the career prospects of post-apartheid jazz musicians, Forbes asserts that on the whole, the situation of the recording artists is in fact better. He says, "Musicians have become more aware of what their work was actually worth in terms of earning potential. The legacy of being abused by recording companies came to the fore. As the new jazz muso's began developing, recording companies started providing more substantial recording budgets to the bands, which ultimately influenced the standard of the recordings and the music. Subsequently the radio stations started playing more jazz from the up and coming muso's as more material became available, you started hearing less Hugh and more unknowns and first timers." He paints a generally positive picture of the South African scene, saying that the commercial value of local music has increased, artists earn more money and importantly, the artists are more educated especially with regard to what the record companies can and should own, and the support roles that they can play.

"The jazz scene has mushroomed locally with many new bands finding their way into the studio. The live scene has augmented this growth with the birth of jazz festivals that occur almost every month plus the international jazz festivals that include top overseas acts, this all means more platforms." The new breed of South African jazz artists led by locally well-known people like Jimmy Dludlu, Zim Ngqawana, Ernie Smith, Don Laka and Sipho Gumede is, though, not getting any exposure because the promoters are still booking the old names. Nevertheless, Forbes feels international exposure is not the biggest challenge facing South African jazz now. "The biggest challenge facing SA jazz is to retain a strong SA influence while improving on production and the musical performance of the artists. The question of retaining an SA sound while still attempting to get radio play on a jazz radio station in the States for instance is extremely difficult, simply because developing a product for a local and overseas market is almost impossible." Puljic feels somewhat differently. "The development (made so far) will progress even further when the relationships and connections between SA artists and US artists is rekindled. That's our challenge - jazz, the US and South Africa have an undeniable common bond - we're reminding everyone of that."

And we are sitting up and taking notice.