JOHANNESBURG – Music enthusiasts in Johannesburg are in for a treat next month, with iconic South African artists set to share the stage during Heritage Month.
Billy Monama, a well-known South African guitarist, will perform live on stage in Johannesburg with other iconic South African artists, including include Sipho 'Hotstix' Mabuse, Judith Sephuma, and Titi Luzipo, on 9 September.
The performance will take place at the venerable Theatre of Struggle, the Market Theatre, in Newtown, Johannesburg. The concert will honour a first exile generation of tenacious composers, and a second exile generation of musicians, in two parts.
Monama will present a musical journey and conversation between two generations of ancestral artists during a one-night-only, limited-ticket performance titled Mayibuye iAfrika: The Freedom Songs.
The concert will culminate in a reminder of what makes South African music so deeply resonant with Africans and the rest of the world.
The event aspires to be a "re-visioning of heritage music for modern ears," according to Monama, from the choice of location to intellectual conversations around the show and its jubilant participants.
Choral freedom anthems from the earliest recordings made by African National Congress (ANC) exiles in what was Tanganyika, now Tanzania, will be included in part one. Work by Wilson Khayingo, Zinakele Nkaba, and Vuyisile Mini will be included in the novel arrangement.
The second segment, directed by Monama and featuring The Grazroots Project Orkestra, will honour Letta Mbulu, Miriam Makeba, Jonas Gwangwa, and Hugh Masekela as anti-apartheid icons and towering personalities in the local and global music scenes.
The musical extravaganza will also include modern musicians with expertise in a variety of South African music genres and historical eras. The performances will include Sipho 'Hotstix' Mabuse, a legendary drummer, saxophonist, composer, and activist; Judith Sephuma, a Grammy-winning afro-funk, jazz, and gospel vocalist; Titi Luzipo, a well-known figure in the Afro Jazz and soul genres; and a surprise guest artist.
The event will be a feast for music experts, aspiring and professional musicians, as well as fans and connoisseurs of African jazz, Maskandi, Kwela, and Mbaqanga.
"This is a journey created to heal through song and reawaken consciousness as we revisit South African classics that celebrate past South African composers and musicians," Monama enthused.
The Freedom Songs were essential in preserving and sharing South Africa's generational music expertise, and served as a source of musical inspiration, according to Mayibuye iAfrika.
Artmotion S.Africa
