By Philip A. Songa

One of my favourite discs in my humble collection is a compilation titled African Jazz Men Vol. III. It combines faces new and old on the South African jazz scene such as Hugh Masekela, Caiphus Semenya, Jonas Gwangwa, Paul Hanmer, McCoy Mrubata, Soweto String Quartet, Sipho Gumede, and Errol Dyers, just to name a few. This is just one of the numerous compilations and records from Sheer Sound (SS), whose President Damon Forbes remarks, "The recording industry has always recorded more black artists than white. The basic market forces have always dictated that. The majority of recorded jazz in this country has always featured far more black musicians, but black jazz was marketed to black people and white jazz to white people."

But Sheer Sound breaks with that tradition, combing on one CD the white Cape Town influences of Errol Dyer's Sonesta with the traditional sounds of Jonas Gwangwa's Batsumi. Clearly this is a label with a mission. With the market for local music looking up and the changing the face of the jazz scene in South Africa, SS has positioned itself well to bring the music of South Africa to her people and beyond. They are helped along by a change in attitudes, which means that the old patterns of enjoyment of music along racial lines are no more. The falling Rand has been a blessing in disguise, making it more difficult for the average consumer to go for imported music. Improved recording and packaging have meant that it is easier for local buyers to part with their money to buy local music.

In addition, the death of apartheid has opened up a whole new commercial viability for music that did not exist in the apartheid era. Says Forbes, "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 the mantle of apartheid. From being a voice of the people it had to develop into a commercially viable form of music." To exploit that commercial potential, SS has marketed itself well in South Africa, and gone a step further by setting up a subsidiary in the US called Rerooted Media. The head of that subsidiary, Mel Puljic, says, "One of our objectives is to strengthen the bond between the US and SA jazz--it would seem only natural for this bond to be stronger. Jazz was invented and developed in the US, and South Africa is the only African country, if not the world, with its own authentic jazz tradition."

According to Puljic, the response so far in the US has been "very enthusiastic," a few problems notwithstanding. "It was a real pleasure to find that a lot of general knowledge about SA jazz exists among the retailers and the music fans." This is thanks to the main apartheid-era expatriates like Hugh Masekela, Abdullah Ibrahim, and Miriam Makeba. "Our approach has been to explain that not all South African jazz artists will find appeal to the same consumer. They all have a distinct South African sound, but different artists and releases are promoted in different ways," he explains.

Puljic and Forbes are old friends who used to work together in the "best record store in Johannesburg" while still at university in the eighties. Puljic recalls: "We both worked in the music business after graduating. We had stayed in touch since I moved to America about four years ago. We had spoken about SA jazz and the US on various occasions--and the stars finally aligned to make the promotion of Sheer Sound artists in the US possible last year." He admits that there are "huge challenges" in doing that, which require special adjustments. "The music industry in the US is a very different thing to what is in SA. I've worked in distribution since graduating from university in SA, so I am pretty familiar with the different approaches various labels can take with their distributors. Many labels see this as a one-way street. With Sheer its been completely different--consultation is continuous, the dedication to the artists at Sheer is unparalleled, and this is part of what Rerooted communicates to the US audience--important artists that are held in high esteem by all they come in contact with--whether it be on a musical or personal level. And since music is personal, these are not mutually exclusive."

Sheer Sound gives their artists complete artistic freedom, superb production quality and the best packaging in Africa, according to Puljic. "All of these things are tremendously valuable aspects in our work to develop the US profile of Sheer artists and SA jazz in general." The philosophy of Sheer Sound is obvious in the recordings. Several of the artists lend a hand to one another on their various albums. Occasionally, they get together to form one-off groupings, or even permanent ones, that represent the best in South African jazz at any particular time. One such group is the Sheer All-Stars that consists of the omnipresent Paul Hanmer, McCoy Mrubata, Sipho Gumede, Errol Dyers and Frank Paco, artists that have each recorded one or more successful individual albums on the label and made their mark locally, some internationally.

Mel Puljic speaks about the development and status quo of jazz in his native country in glowing terms. "The clubs are packed, there are numerous festivals, the sponsors are jostling to get involved and the music is fantastic. The artists are appreciated and there is a very healthy scene to appreciate. All the major record labels have got jazz artist rosters--domestic artists, not just releasing whatever the parent company decrees in Europe or from the US." He goes on to say, "The development has been fantastic, undoubtedly. Especially the music. With apartheid consigned to history, the confidence, the verve, the artistry and pure musicianship emanating from SA jazz artists is simply beautiful."

"It's a celebration, without question."

Visit the Sheer Sound Web Site.