TOWARDS AFROPHONIA
He’s delighted to appear at Joy of Jazz, but his music is something apart, Sello Galane tells Peter Feldman
Music must be defined from its generic source, its social significance, its historical origin and its compositional structures.”
The speaker is Dr Sello Galane. This Polokwane-born multiinstrumentalist is one of SA’s most renowned musical practitioners and has some telling observations about tribalism, Jazz and the Kiba form of music he helped transform.
Galane has been lauded for his sterling efforts to detribalise Kiba and make it more accessible to wider audiences.
He has achieved this unique sound by utilising saxophones, guitars and drum kits within the Kiba format. He was driven to achieve this transformation, he says, because he fervently believes in exploring the best of both worlds to advance human experience.
In an interview he talks about the scourge of tribalism and how it is “one silent threat to peace and the nationbuilding project. It is as dangerous as racism is to the nation building of our fragile democracy.”
He feels that any tribal definition must be avoided.
“Its significance cannot supercede the fact that we are human in a given time and place. I have achieved this by singing in African languages from all over the continent, and by working with fellow musicians from different parts of the world. Our catalogue bears testimony to achieving this goal.”
Galane says he does not have a favourite among his 13 albums, explaining that each one is unique and special.
“Each composition is a gift to me that I share with all humanity. Each song in any album has a unique DNA. They, therefore, cannot be compared and pitted against each other. People prefer some to others based on their life experiences and the right to choose what they like. I unfortunately don’t enjoy that right as far as my compositions are concerned. They each represent a different moment in time of my life.”
A selection of evergreen sing-along compositions from his albums will be featured during his concert, including crowd favourites Nyepe at Goree, Serurubele, Sekutu, Ikhaya, Dikokotwane and Bolela.
On the question of his music, Galane explains: “The issue is to retain a music idiom you are exploring by any instrument necessary. Focus should be laid on the final product you’ve produced, whether the musicianship and skills explored have succeeded in growing the idiom of the music and genre or not. Care should be taken not to detract from the essence of the music and its purpose.”
Asked whether he has always had a passion for music, he says: “I have been blessed with the creative genes from both my mother and father. My mother, Moaki, was an avid reader and consummate singer. My father, Maeke, was a spectacular dancer of Dinaka and came from Ga-Maraba and Mashashane villages. Both the melodic and rhythmic qualities they both had culminated in my experience, hence the Free Kiba genre I introduced to the world.”
I ask about his relationship with the late Dr Philip Tabane, a wonderful and enlightened musician.
“Dr Philip Tabane’s organic intellectualism has had a profound influence on me. His respect for indigenous classification of genres of music in their original names is laudable. His promotion of African languages in the lyrics of his works shows the high regard he had for the communities that, over the centuries of Imperial domination, have preserved the languages. The centrality of the African music idiom in the flute, voice, guitar and drums is unmistakable. His resilience in using any instrument he could master, and imbuing it with African rhythms, is a marvel for younger generations to follow. I have explored this approach in my own way and it works.”
He maintains that jazz in SA, especially in townships, has not yet been properly defined, arguing that often works that do not fit the genre are inappropriately categorised as jazz. This constitutes what he terms “epistemic violence”. He feels inappropriate classifications bring about difficulties for the formal teaching and learning of music.
He claims that what exists out there is more Afrophonia, presented on the funded platform of jazz.
“I have seen, as a people on world platforms of jazz in Europe and the Americas, the sound we produce as South African Africans is the envy of many. I call most of it Afrophonia, and very little is jazz.
“I do appreciate that Free Kiba, like a lot of non-jazz music, is presented on jazzfunded platforms. A jazz platform such as Joy of Jazz is indeed generously inclusive and it features indigenous African music idioms such as Free Kiba as it has done with others in the past.
“That is the reason our fellow musicians from outside our shores are so looking forward to the Joy of Jazz experience, because it highlights different music idioms on the international music platform on the ‘African motherland’.”
When not performing, Galane is kept busy with his studies and family life. He loves gardening and encouraging young people to read — he is a “Read ambassador of SA”. The Ga-Maraba royal house has honoured Galane for keeping the Kiba idiom alive internationally by giving him land, where he intends building a Kiba World Heritage Centre.
His message for young musicians is they must not clamour for fame.
“They must strive for acquisition of knowledge and they must read and be able to discern the subtle voices that seek to destroy humanity.
“They must not lose heart when they fail. They must rise up in dignity, learn from the experience, and then forge on humbly.
“Success does beget success in the rat race, but achievement of one’s own goals is more honorable and measurable because only you and your Creator can take a stroll on the path to your destiny.” LS
‘The centrality of the African music idiom ... is unmistakable’
’The sound we produce as South African Africans is the envy of many’
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In three months’ timeGalane will parade his musical wares at the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz Festival at the Sandton Convention Centre. The event, which takes place on five stages, runs for three nights, from September 27 to 29.