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established
01/04/00 Sustaining the principles
of love in action : ubuntu /sharing PORTFOLIO OF CULTURAL JOURNALISM : the doors of culture and learning shall be opened struhuru@gmail.com |
In fact the music industry is a hornests net of self interest smothering the
outlet valve between the musician and the muse, the creative and the creator.
T o quote Maxine Macgregor : “musicians rae like sensitive flowers when their
muse dries up they die.” I had come to know Moses Molelekwa. He was gifted,
he was guided. His shining light burnt a whole completely through the smothering
mass of self interest that is the music industry. And artists were following
this example, breaking through, creating music that was real and true. In the
year 2000 (more so than ever before) the South African musc industry was experiencing
a golden period of expansion that was making it globally recognised. One would
think that this was fantastic as a collective of kindness was rising in the
wake of this pure expression. And we were all cooking in the name of music :
Moses was collaborating, bringing musicians together, achieving the dream of
real music, pure music, true music, being the role model to all to realise their
love through. And then one day this African Pioneer was found dead by suicide.
And the whole he had made through the darkness was quickly covered up again,
but this time with more security than ever before, and the SA music industry
collapsed into the darkest and dirtiest period it could ever know. It could
only become exactly what its provocateurs had wanted – a timid expression of
Americanization! It was possibly in reaction to this that I was forced to invest
my all and everything into the realisation of the dream.
"I love all music, and all the similarities. I think there's just something
special about music, and you got to appreciate that." And its' this passion
for the inclusivity of sound and commitment to expanding his music, combined
with his instinctive desire for discovering the voice of harmony, that has fine-tuned
his ear to the little details, the beauty of jazz and its great embrace. Moses
Molelekwa is one of South Africa's most innovative and progressive jazz musicians,
a visionary who's revitalising the genre, mixing in the old with the new, respecting
the traditional sounds, yet taking risks and pushing jazz into a contemporary
and refreshing space. As with any great and passionate musician, he composes
furiously and prolifically, dynamic and reflexive in an ever changing society,
developing his sound into something that is retrospective and progressive, eclectic
and representative, rhythmical and harmonic, sensitive and tolerant - a step
in the direction of a universal sound.
He called himself a child of the LOST GENERATION. 16 July 2000, shortly after midnight was the last time I was to see this great man. We had been together to watch D'Angelo smashing microphones on the world stage and then we headed up to his hotel room to take on a few beers and a lengthy discussion.
“I'm naturally like that - I listen to everything. That is sort of manifested in the way I play as well - all those different styles. It's exciting to see a jazz festival with so much variety, which shows that jazz is so huge. One's role in this is to confirm South African jazz to this market.”
“There is a certain culture that already exists. The South African market is still taking baby steps compared to the States who are way ahead of us in terms of the structuring of the music business. Watching them represent their musical heritage inspires us as well to want to do more. We represent South African music and the now generation of music. We have all these different influences from the South African music scene and we bring out each and every one of them.”
“Everywhere in the world there are those musicians who will express at a certain level - especially when you are doing something original. The music you play is also a medium in which you can express yourself best - like a language that is developed and that is growing and changing. So each artist when they start composing there own music and they play it – the way they feel it and it is real to them and then they can touch other people and perform it with a real spirit. In South Africa now it is an exciting time and also a testing time where we are reconfirming the root we have chosen. The richness comes from within and also opening your ears to other peoples music. And that's why it is always changing. We (South Africans) are new and bringing in other musical elements, styles and feelings into the feelings of the world, but it happens everywhere with all musicians. Music is the most powerful force in providing the thing that will unite the world. It is a connecting force that can come from every country.”
“This comes through naturally - the experiences I have had, the feelings that I feel, the places I have been, they just manifest themselves. There is a certain feeling as well - a certain time when you play a chord or the movements that you use - which is South African. The emotions that I put in are emotions that I know are there, but I don't know are there - it is not for me to look at them or judge them, it is just for me to express them. It is just the way I am feeling at that point or whatever the song needs for me to express.”
“I am philosophical about music - it is a mystery because sometimes when the sound is great and the spirit is great you can have some magical moments, something just happens on stage that you are so connected and you are complimenting each other in such a special way that there is a movement that gives you Goosebumps. It can go along way - it can go to a very high level, expressing emotions and sometimes being overpowered by something that wants to say something through you.”
“African
unity is important because there has just been to much blood and death in Africa
and I think to have a positive outlook there is so much culture and so much
music that needs to come out from there. There is a lot that needs to be done.
African unity means African growth. It means world peace - I like to see Africa
as the United States of Africa - as one thing because we are one thing. Only
when we come out of this time of devastation, frustration and separation can
we start growing. It is part of what I am about – I love African music and I
love the rhythms that come out of that, I can hear similarities and how connected
they are. It is important to have it unified.”
“As far as my musical career is concerned, at the moment I see a lot of possibilities. I think that for the next album it is going to be big. I can feel it because now I am aware of the importance of being global. I have always had those influences and that kind of perception but now I have experienced it and seen how it happens and how it can affect. I see possibilities of doing concerts with orchestras, I would like to develop my band. It can almost be like a school but also a band which allows young people to come and grow in it and be free to leave when they need to move on - a constantly developing ensemble. But at the end of the day, my next album will be all these influences put together, to present a new style, a new approach to music which is my personal approach.”
“I
have been listening to a lot of music - there is a lot of great music in the
world which is not being heard as often as it should be - but in bringing all
those elements together, I will be able to do that. Now it is a period of reflections
and I like what I see so far, but I can see where it can go as well. I need
time to put it together and take it into the world.”
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