Paul Ndlovu – Tsakane!
https://amf.didiermary.fr/paul-ndlovu-tsakane/
Before Shangaan Electro, there was Shangaan Disco in the 80s & 90s. It’s township pop music, just like Kwaito, but the difference is based on its ethnic origin, the Tsonga (Shangaan) language. Although the sound evolved and reached a larger audience, the ethnic name remained. […]
Youssou N’Dour – Nelson Mandela (live)
https://amf.didiermary.fr/youssou-ndour-nelson-mandela/
This version of “Nelson Mandela” is from “Youssou N’Dour & Le Super Etoile de Dakar – Fatteliku” released in 2015.
This album was recorded live in Athens on Peter Gabriel’s So tour in 1987.
#LiveMusic #Madiba #Sénégal #SouthAfrica #YoussouNDour #OldAfricanMusic
Asher Gamedze - War
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKRwc75MJds
A Semblance: Of Return
https://ashergamedze.bandcamp.com/album/a-semblance-of-return
Master KG – Jerusalema Feat. Nomcebo
https://amf.didiermary.fr/master-kg-jerusalema-feat-nomcebo/
The South African house track “Jerusalema” has rocketed around the world, becoming a viral sensation. But it’s no common pop song — it speaks to a growing desire across Africa to remake and reimagine the world.
And when Zionists (not the South African version of African-inspired Christianity, but supporters of Israel) at one point tried […]
Mandoza – Nkalakatha
https://amf.didiermary.fr/mandoza-nkalakatha/
Kwaito star Mandoza, aka MDZ, born Mduduzi Tshabalala, died in 2016 at the age of 38. One of the most notable Kwaito artists, with 10+ studio albums, many of his singles turned hits and he received multiple awards.
“Nkalakatha,” on Mandoza’s eponym second album, was at the time an anthem for all South Africans. It […]
TKZee – Magesh
https://amf.didiermary.fr/tkzee-magesh/
TKZee is a South African Kwaito music group formed in the 1990s by three school friends, Tokollo ‘Magesh’ Tshabalala (RIP), Kabelo Mabalane, and Zwai Bala.TKZee is one of the pioneering groups of Kwaito, Mapantsula and electronic music in South Africa.
The group shot to prominence in late 1997 with their singles “Palafala” and “Shibobo.” […]
DJ Cleo – Gcina Impilo Yam
https://amf.didiermary.fr/dj-cleo-gcina-impilo-yam/
Collaboration in 2021 between South African Kwaito, House music and Hip Hop producer DJ Cleo with gospel singer Bucy Radebe.
TRUE STORY – Malcolm Jiyane Tree-O
https://amf.didiermary.fr/true-story-malcolm-jiyane-tree-o/
While the Tree-O’s previous outing UMDALI presented a snapshot of an inspired few days of spontaneity, TRUE STORY is a more deliberately crafted opus. Recorded in Johannesburg over three sessions between December 2020 and April 2021 and further polished for months in post-production sessions in 2023, the record is synesthetically vivid throughout, […]
Diteboho - Pitso (1st Movement)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGkMKHlbrjY
Black classical music, with traces of Abdullah Ibrahim...
Miriam Makeba – The Naughty Little Flea
https://amf.didiermary.fr/miriam-makeba-naughty-little-flea/
The “Naughty Little Flea” is a Jamaican folk song, a light Calypso, telling the story of a dog tormented by a flea. Miriam Makeba probably discovered it while working with Harry Belafonte.
An Evening with Belafonte/Makeba is a Grammy Award-winning 1965 album by Harry Belafonte and Miriam Makeba. It was the second outcome of the […]
Almon Memela (Soweto)
https://amf.didiermary.fr/almon-memela-soweto/
Born in 1936, Almon Memela is (was?) a South African composer, guitarist and producer, from Donnybrook, KwaZulu-Natal, who taught himself to play guitar as a child (first on homemade instruments and with no encouragement from his family). A remarkably versatile artist, his music went from Soul Jazz and Jive to Mbaqanga and AfroFunk. [...]
#70smusic #AfroFunk #Jazz #Mbaqanga #SoulJazz #SouthAfrica #OldAfricanMusic
Dr. Madala Kunene
https://amf.didiermary.fr/madala-kunene/
Madala Kunene blends Zulu folk with township blues to produce a unique hybrid of contemporary music he calls “Madala-line”. Born in the vibrant streets of Durban, Madala Kunene, affectionately known as Bafo, emerged as a legend deeply rooted in Zulu culture and its musical rhythms. Dr. Madala Kunene is forever dubbed the King of Zulu Guitar! […]
Oumou Sangaré – Ah Ndiyah (remixed)
https://amf.didiermary.fr/oumou-sangare-boddhi-satva-ah-ndiyah/
“Boddhi Satva’s Ancestral Soul mix” of Oumou Sangaré’s “Ah Ndiyah,” original song from her first album Moussolou. See also in duo with Bela Fleck.
Philip Tabane – Malombo
https://amf.didiermary.fr/rip-philip-tabane/
Philip Tabane (1934 – 2018) was a South African musician, vocalist, jazz guitarist and band leader, part of the group Malombo in the 60s.
Malombo Jazz Makers
https://amf.didiermary.fr/malombo-jazz-makers/
International reissues of two classics of South African jazz by Malombo Jazz Makers, ‘Malompo Jazz’ (1966) and ‘Malombo Jazz Makers Vol. 2’ (1967). Formed in Mamelodi township near Pretoria, the group started out as Malombo Jazz Men with Julian Bahula on malombo drums, Abbey Cindi on flute and Philip Tabane on guitar. Fusing traditional and […]
Saturday Fever – Jivaro
https://amf.didiermary.fr/saturday-fever-jivaro/
Groupe sud-africain de musique disco et bubblegum, les quatre membres de Jivaro ont été actifs à la fin des années 1980. “Saturday Fever” est sorti en 1989.
"One of – if not the – strongest South African kwaito/bubblegum albums in existence, Jivaro’s 1989 masterpiece 'Saturday Fever,' the album features various heavy hitting tracks that perfectly […]
Thembi Dunjana
https://amf.didiermary.fr/thembi-dunjana/
Thembi Dunjana is a female jazz pianist from South Africa, and “a lover of hip hop sounds, rhythmic displacement and cool possibilities”. She received the Mzantsi Jazz award in 2021 and was a Basadi in Music award nominee in 2022.
Her album [God Bless iKapa. God Bless Mzantsi.] is a homage to the pianist’s home […]
Lucky Dube – Together as One (live)
https://amf.didiermary.fr/lucky-dube-together-as-one/
Lucky Dube‘s 1990 concert at Bay Street, Sag Harbor, NY, on July 7, 1990. This is his classic “Together As One”, from the eponym cassette released in 1988.
“The cats and the dogs have forgiven each other—what is wrong with us?”
Don’t miss the dance performance with his keyboard player, Thuthukani Cele.
Themba & T-Fire – No Stop Dis Musik
https://amf.didiermary.fr/themba-matebese-tfire-no-stop-dis-musik/
Extraordinaire guitarist and producer Themba Matebese, aka “T-Fire,” a South African artist who moved to Nigeria and released “No Stop Dis Musik” in 1976.
South African (adopted Nigerian) Themba Matebese with the Nigerian version of his band T-Fire, featuring some of the best musicians [...]
#70smusic #AfroFunk #Disco #Nigeria #SouthAfrica #OldAfricanMusic
Thandiswa Mazwai – Vana Vevhu
https://amf.didiermary.fr/thandiswa-mazwai-funk-afrika-vana-vehu-live/
From the live album “Dance of the Forgotten Free” recorded by Thandiswa Mazwai at a concert in 2010.
After five albums with the band “Bongo Maffin”, Thandiswa Mazwai ventured onto a solo career. Her first project, Zabalaza (2004), reached double-platinum status and won numerous awards, including a Kora award for Best African Female and four […]
Boddhi Satva – Kilulu
https://amf.didiermary.fr/boddhi-satva-kilulu-spilulu-baraka-kaysha/
From album “Manifestation” by Boddhi Satva, with Spilulu, H.Baraka & Kaysha.
Afro House pioneer and father of Ancestral Soul, Boddhi Satva presents his album, “Manifestation” (2022), and brings to a close a trilogy of long players, following “Invocation” (2012) and “Transition” (2016).This most conceptual of Afro House’s producers offers an ode to lovers [...]
Mahotella Queens – Umculo Kawupheli
https://amf.didiermary.fr/mahotella-queens-umculo-kawupheli/
The classic Mahotella Queens hit song, “Umculo Kawupheli” (“The music never ends”), from 1973. Original song with self-made video, featuring clips of the Queens back in the 1970s with their backing group the Makgona Tsohle Band.
From the golden age of South African township jive, the country’s premier mbaqanga girl group, the Mahotella Queens, and […]
Sio, Daev Martian – Liquor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnmIBaw35LA
MUZI - Uhlanga Feat Zoë Modiga
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vL4XFvsRtlQ
From album "Electric Zululand"
DJ Maphorisa & Tyler ICU – Izolo
https://amf.didiermary.fr/dj-maphorisa-tyler-icu-izolo/
South African artists DJ Maphorisa & Tyler ICU came through in 2021 with their track “Izolo”, from their Banyana EP, featuring singers Mpura, Daliwonga & Visca.
