South African Squash Box music

[michael sam wild]

Ever since I was a kid I loved the record Tom Hark , and The Boys from Joburg by Elias and his Zig Zag jive flutes. It inspired me to get a penny whistle . I think it is Kwela music.

 

 

Has anyone any links to concertina music of the same type (I assume Anglo?)

 

I like the two tracks on Anglo International and would like to know more about the types of instrument and their note arrangements... How did the British or Boer players influence the black musicians or was it a spontaneous evolution?

[mikep1]

Hi, I have also loved this style since I heard the recordings on an album called:

 

Squashbox: Zulu, Sotho, Xhosa Concertina, 1930-1965

 

This doesn't seem to be available anymore and I only have a cassette copy with sleevenotes however these don't cover how the music was actually played or the tunings of the instruments. I did try and copy the style on one or two tracks as well as trying to emulate its evolution where the saxophone took the lead for example in 'Duba duba', but I am mostly in the dark about it and would also love more info. Does anyone know if there is still this concertina tradition in South Africa?

Mike

[JimLucas]

Using this forum's search facility on the word "squashbox" just turned up 28 different Topics.

 

Right now I have no time to dig deeper, but my memory tells me there's some useful information in at least a couple of those threads.

 

Happy hunting.

[Alan Day]

The two tracks of S.A Squashbox music came from the British Library music archive department. After a day of listening they were the best of what they had,but much of the music goes on for a VERY long time,repeating over and over again. It is well worth a trip up to the Library ne Euston Station London for a listen. Harry Scurfield I think has written articles on this subject. Sean Minnie SA is also an expert on this subject.

Boer Music is still very strong and examples of this music on Anglo International are from Zak van der Vyver (based in Portsmouth UK)and Regardt de Bruin a brilliant young player.

A very famous player of the Duet in SA was Nico Langeuelot and I have an archive recording of his playing which I hope will be included in Duet International(thanks to Zak).

Al

[Roger Gawley]

Harry Scurfield I think has written articles on this subject.

Al

 

Harry Scurfield is indeed a good man to ask about this one. He was behind the Squashbox CD that started this thread. Not now available but it does turn up sometimes.

[michael sam wild]

Thanks for the leads. This one turned up

 

http://undercoverblackman.vox.com/library/audio/6a00cd970f81104cd50100a7fa7d1d000e.html

 

I've just found a good article on kwela (which means 'jump up' I believe) based on a thesis by a South African ethnomusicologist which started with research on Paul Simon's Graceland record

[michael sam wild]

As a member of ICA I'm somewhat ashamed to admit that I should have known about this super article by Harry Scurfield (05 Dec 09) on the excellent newly upgraded website

http://www.concertin...of-south-africa

 

 

I don't know where it was originally published or when - has anyone any info? All the articles give 2009 as the last update

 

 

I love this quote

 

"'The musicianship echoes Johnny Clegg’s words: ‘We say, you’re holding a life in your hands, because it breathes. It’s like a pulsing being that you’re holding when you’re playing. You can feel it, it breathes with you’."

Edited January 6, 2010 by michael sam wild

[michael sam wild]

Sorry, at the bottom of the outline article it has a box PDF for printing. Click and it leads to full article . It's from PICA 2 (2005)

 

I only joined last year

[Jody Kruskal]

Thanks for the leads. This one turned up

 

http://undercoverblackman.vox.com/library/audio/6a00cd970f81104cd50100a7fa7d1d000e.html

 

I've just found a good article on kwela (which means 'jump up' I believe) based on a thesis by a South African ethnomusicologist which started with research on Paul Simon's Graceland record

Thanks Michael, I'm writing as I listen to this link with Ditee: Ranoko Sebabule. This is just what I've been looking for. Full harmonic concertina playing in the South African style. Great stuff and really different than anything else I've heard before.

[Jody Kruskal]

Ever since I was a kid I loved the record Tom Hark , and The Boys from Joburg by Elias and his Zig Zag jive flutes. It inspired me to get a penny whistle . I think it is Kwela music.

 

 

Has anyone any links to concertina music of the same type (I assume Anglo?)

 

I like the two tracks on Anglo International and would like to know more about the types of instrument and their note arrangements... How did the British or Boer players influence the black musicians or was it a spontaneous evolution?

Here is a link to hear a selection from Elias and his Zig-Zag Flutes

 

My link

 

If you find any more South African Zulu concertina recordings please do post them here.

[Boney]

Here is a link to hear a selection from Elias and his Zig-Zag Flutes

 

My link

 

If you find any more South African Zulu concertina recordings please do post them here.

Thanks...that led me to the Soul Safari blog, which has more Kwela and other African music, including this track: Amakwenkwe Xhosa tribe - Dance for young men accompanied by concertina and whistle.

 

[david fabre]

As a member of ICA I'm somewhat ashamed to admit that I should have known about this super article by Harry Scurfield (05 Dec 09) on the excellent newly upgraded website

http://www.concertin...of-south-africa

 

 

 

I found this extremely interesting. I've always wondered what was the actual layout of the squashbox.

Now I know what if I ever try one I'll rapidly get crazy

 

Johnny Clegg was one of the heroes of my youth : the white zulu !

20 years after I'm delighted to learn that he is also a fine ethnomusicologist.

 

Thanks Michael, I'm writing as I listen to this link with Ditee: Ranoko Sebabule. This is just what I've been looking for. Full harmonic concertina playing in the South African style. Great stuff and really different than anything else I've heard before.

 

Jody, if you ever do a transcription for a "regular" anglo of something like this I'm strongly interested !

[MarkvN]

For historical samples, you might try the website of the International Library of African Music; using 'concertina' as a keyword gives >100 hits: ILAM.

[Jody Kruskal]

For historical samples, you might try the website of the International Library of African Music; using 'concertina' as a keyword gives >100 hits: ILAM.

 

Ooo, that's the stuff. Amazing, the quantity of these samples. Too bad the examples are so short. This is begging for a compilation CD.

[Jody Kruskal]

Thank you MarkvN for sharing that link. I've been listening more to these files and am blown away by the richness of this tradition. The variety and obvious cohesion of style make me yet again in awe of the capacity of the squeeze box for personal/cultural expression. Alan Day, what do you make of these squeezings?

 

I seem to remember someone telling me that the Zulu altered their concertinas from what the Boers (and everyone else) were playing by taking the reed plates out and turning them 180 degrees.

Edited January 7, 2010 by Jody Kruskal

[Alan Day]

Thank you MarkvN for sharing that link. I've been listening more to these files and am blown away by the richness of this tradition. The variety and obvious cohesion of style make me yet again in awe of the capacity of the squeeze box for personal/cultural expression. Alan Day, what do you make of these squeezings?

 

I seem to remember someone telling me that the Zulu altered their concertinas from what the Boers (and everyone else) were playing by taking the reed plates out and turning them 180 degrees.

Great stuff Jody. I played the two Anglo International samples to two groups of School Children and recently to some Old Age Pensioners. Same reaction everyone was jumping up and down to the music. For a simple twenty button concertina most would bin after upgrading, these guys REALLY know how to play. Thanks for all the archive clips.

Al

[michael sam wild]

Thanks everyone this has got me jumping up and down again like I did as a kid ! I am after that record that Harry Scurfield did. Is he still active and does he come on conc.net?

 

I just got on that ILAM site and had a play along The song called Roodepoort sung in Zulu seemed to go nicely in C so maybe all sorts of concertinas were used as available. I'm going go through and play along as much as possible on the C/G which is all I've got with me at the monet.

 

 

We went to Cape Town a few years ago to a wedding as my son married a South African girl ( of Russian ancestry) She was somewhat aware of the music but was knocked out when I played these to her and my grandkids who now live in Sheffield. They found the concertina link fascinating so I've got to get a Bb/Eb upside down 2 row German or Bastari beat up box!

 

 

Jody - do you or Dan Worrall or anybody know whether there was a similar crossover in the States and did black musicians adapt/adopt the concertina ? I know Cajun and Zydeco music has a strong crossover but know nothing of concertina in black music

 

 

I thought the article by Harry S showed parallels with the musicians of the Irish and other 'Diasporas' such as fusion of regional styles in urban or rural work environments, use of available instruments, dance oriented etc etc

 

 

 

Oh to be young and bold again I'd go travelling with a digital recorder and some small instruments! I reckon the process is going on all over the world, well I know it is .

Edited January 7, 2010 by michael sam wild

[Dan Worrall]

 

 

Jody - do you or Dan Worrall or anybody know whether there was a similar crossover in the States and did black musicians adapt/adopt the concertina ? I know Cajun and Zydeco music has a strong crossover but know nothing of concertina in black music

 

 

Well, first I should say that the concertina did not "cross over" from the Europeans to the Africans, at least not in the manner that you might expect. I have documents showing that black Africans were obtaining and playing German concertinas every bit as early as the colonial Brits and Dutch were--in the 1850s. Some of their traditions of playing concertina are hence as old as those in England, or Ireland, or Australia. The trade in German concertinas was global in the early 1850s; German ships brought these goods to nearly every port in the globe. Concertina use among Africans was strongest of course along the coast, where the instruments were accessible--South Africa (Khoi, Xhosa, Zulu, Sotho), Ghana, Angola, Cape Verde Islands, Kenya, Madagascar are all places where I've found multiple sightings of black African use in the late 19th century and early 20th century.

 

The instrument's keyboard arrangement was indeed altered for black South African (mostly Zulu, Xhosa, Sotho) players; Harry Scurfield discussed this in his PICA Squashbox article. I've made a few transcriptions of Zulu and Sotho playing for my book on the history of the Anglo-German concertina (within weeks of release now), and they are difficult to transcribe because many of their harmonies are not playable on a normal concertina. Very interesting playing...black South Africans go for rhythm and chords over melody--just the polar opposite of most European styles. The concertina gives an underlying rhythmic pulse to the singing, not a melody, and consists usually of a series of repetitive phrases, which are altered a bit every time the phrase is played.

 

The Boers (white South Africans, of course) on the other hand play in a very melodic, more European style, as one would expect. A few of the ILAM recordings (South African Music Archive Project) are of black Africans who played more in the Boer style....Willie Gumede is one (a Zulu)...there was a tradition of black musicians playing for Boer dances in the early days, so that too is to be expected. But most seemed to have played more in the more traditional African rhythmic mode mentioned above.

 

To the question of crossover concertina playing in the US, there clearly was some black use of the instrument (see my articles on the concertina in the US and at Sea, for example), but it never developed into what it did in South Africa--a living tradition that has made it into the modern era. Most southern US blacks played fiddles and banjos in the late nineteenth century; concertina and accordion playing thus did not make a big splash except locally (e.g., Louisiana). Some of the ILAM recordings have banjo players, by the way. That instrument (originally African in slave days) re-entered South Africa with the American minstrel shows--a global fashion. It is a little known fact that there were black African minstrel show bands in west and South Africa in the late nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries, who played to black audiences. Capetown still preserves vestiges of this with their New Year's carnival.

 

Cheers,

Dan