Popular group Mahotella Queens and Heathfield High School band take to the stage, writes
Nontando Mposo
HILDA Tloubatla, lead singer of the acclaimed SA group, Mahotella Queens, remembers her first overseas trip like it was yesterday. The year was 1987 and she was 45 when the band travelled to Paris on a three-month tour.
The trip was to become a career highlight. “As a musician in the then apartheid South Africa, opportunities like these were rare,” she says.
“It was our first invitation abroad, we were so excited and a little scared at the same time. When we arrived we went straight to the hotel and only left it the day of the show,” Tloubatla recalls.
“We spent the months promoting our music and performing. It was unbelievable, the people there were so excited to hear our music and they loved our traditional wear.
“They were dancing with us even thought they didn’t understand the lyrics, it was amazing.”
Discovered by music producer Rupert Bopape, the Mahotella Queens hail from Durban and rose to fame in and around South Africa in the mid-1960s.
This year the group, comprising Tloubatla, Nobesuthu Mbadu and Amanda Nkosi (who replaced Mildred Mangxola), marks its 50th anniversary in the music industry and this weekend will be joining Africa and the world’s best music acts at the 16th annual Cape Town Jazz Festival.
“It’s thanks to God’s grace that we have survived this long. It also has to do with how seriously we took the music and the way we were brought up… Respect goes a long way in this field,” says Tloubatla.
The group sings mostly in Zulu and their unique style is referred to as mgqashiyo – a traditional way of singing mixed with an up-tempo harmony.
In the beginning they were popularly known as the “Girls of Mgqashiyo” and are still a household name in Durban where remixed versions of their songs are popular with young and old.
Tloubatla remembers earning £3 for their first live performance.
“The money was little, but we loved music. Our songs always carried a message. Back in the days we didn’t have telephones and most of our songs were censored by law for political reasons, (so) our music was our telegram and telephone to carry messages to the people of South Africa,” she says
“We sang about love, politics and all kinds of things affecting our society, unlike some of the young generation of musicians today who sometimes include degrading swear words in their music. I urge them to take from traditional music, so as to carry the legacies that represent our cultures and not look down on our music because we sing in vernacular languages.”
The line-up for the jazz festival is packed with artists who, from the 1960s to the 1980s, laid the foundation for black musicians, including Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse, Hugh Masekela, Oliver Mtukudzi and Yvonne Chaka Chaka, who is celebrating 30 years in the industry.
“We are so excited about performing at the jazz festival and coming to Cape Town. The last time we visited was more than 30 years ago,” says Tloubatla.
Meanwhile, some of the youngest performers at the festival are the members of the Heathfield High School band, who have been busy gearing up for their biggest performance so far.
Conductor Lynn Hannibal has been running the school band for 10 years and says the pupils are excited about their jazz festival performance.
“This will be the biggest platform for them and for myself so far. We are nervous, but also very excited. The thought of performing along with high-profile artists intrigues them,” she says.
The 18-member band consists of Grade 10 to 12 pupils, who will be singing and performing instrumental versions of South African music.
The two-day jazz fiesta starts this afternoon. For more information on the programme of events and the artist line-up, visit: CapeTownJazzFest.com.
The line-up is packed with artists who laid the foundation, including Sipho ‘Hotstix’ Mabuse, Hugh Masekela, Oliver Mtukudzi and Yvonne Chaka Chaka