Saxophonist-educator Plunky Branch (right) rehearses with students of UKZN and Virginia Commonwealth University in the United States.American Jazz Students and Academics Connect with UKZN
When United States academic Mr Antonio Garcia saw the words “University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN)” on the list of sister schools to his own Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), his heartbeat quickened.
The potential for collaboration with the UKZN jazz programme founded by Darius Brubeck and which had been a trailblazer in breaking colour barriers in South Africa in the 1980s, was too good an opportunity to resist.
And it all came together recently when Professor Neil Gonsalves, a pianist and Director of UKZN’s Centre for Jazz and Popular Music, took six music students to Richmond. The students were Linda Sikhakhane (tenor saxophone); Sakhile Simane (trumpet); Sebastian Goldswain (guitar); Lungelo Ngcobo (piano) Ildo Nandja (bass) and Sphelelo Mazibuko (drums).
Week-long exchanges followed along with four commissioned works - two from Durban and two from Richmond, several new arrangements, rehearsals shared over the Internet and collaborations with South African music legend Madala Kunene and Richmond-based saxophonist-educator Plunky Branch.
Other activities included concert performances, sessions with guest clinicians, visits to jazz advocates in Washington and trips to the KwaMuhle Museum in Durban and to Richmond’s Black History museum and the American Civil War Center.
Garcia and Gonsalves had made the study of racism and segregation in the history of these two cities an integral part of the experience for students and faculty alike. ‘Music comes from people, and people come from a culture and a history,’ said Garcia. ‘Richmond is the former Confederate capital and “The Durban System” had been the basis for what later became the policy of apartheid throughout South Africa. But out of oppression on both continents came music that spoke for freedom. This teaches the next generation of jazz musicians that you don’t find your musical voice merely to express Gm7-C7; you seek it to express what you feel.’
Gonsalves said South African jazz had its own swagger, rooted in the many kinds of urban music which were part and parcel of a migrant culture. ‘Through the gift of this educational exchange, we can proudly say that local South African music forms and styles such as mbaqanga, maskanda and marabi have taken their place alongside the blues, standard tunes and bebop as platforms for musical dialogue between our respective ensembles.
‘This dialogue is rooted at least partially in our common Southern heritage of migration from serfdom to global citizenry and we acknowledge the effectiveness of this jazz bridge that we’ve built towards developing greater understanding.’
The participating students resonated with the same feeling. ‘Reading and playing music weren’t the only purpose of the exchange,’ said Sikhakhane. ‘There was a lot of spiritualism through sound and cultural experience. All the influences of our forefathers came to action. And the best part was sharing all our understandings through jazz music of this calibre.’
Plans are afoot to continue the partnership of these two jazz programmes. ‘As marvellous as the musical output has been,’ enthused Garcia, ‘it still cannot compare to the knowledge we have all learned and especially the friendships we have all made.’
http://music.ukzn.ac.za/MusicStaff/academic-staff.aspx
http://music.ukzn.ac.za/Academic-Programmes/Jazz-Studies.aspx
- Melissa Mungroo, Neil Gonsalves and Antonio Garcia