What is Cape Jazz?
"It is a cultural music of the people of the Cape, of the Coloured people. Essentially it is blues or folk music, jazzed up, or new music composed which is inspired by the folk music of the Cape. There are common threads like the up-tempo Goema rhythm of the carnival music, common harmonies in the voicing of the brass and vocals, sometimes similar to the Cape Malay choir style of singing mixed with Christian church music. The choice of instrumentation is mostly based on the ability to carry the instrument (in street parades) and its volume when played acoustically, and it has Africa in it, but the Africa of the very southern tip of the continent. The Africa of the Khoi/San tribes and of the Xhosa people with their cyclic repetitive phrases and rhythms. Like most African music it is mostly made to move or dance to".
"In my view the first guru of Cape Jazz was Dollar Brand (Abdullah Ebrahim), he certainly alerted me to the difference between this and other American and European style jazz I had heard before. And the perfect example is his recording of Manenberg, which featured Basil Coetzee, Robbie Jansen, Morris Goldberg, Monty Weber and Paul Michaels. It was an inspiring work of interpretation on Dollar's part, but that could not have been realised if the same spirit had not been running in the blood of the other players who made it with him".
"I think Cape Jazz was there before Dollar Brand, the local musicians were playing it in the clubs and taverns of the port city, together with sailor musicians from north and south America and from Europe, blending what they new with the jazz influences from overseas. But I think Dollar put his finger on it. He certainly enlightened me. For me the moment came in a concert I organised at the University of Cape Town featuring Dollar Brand, Monty Weber, Paul Michaels, Basil Coetzee and Robbie Jansen. When they played a jazzed up version of the folk traditional, Huis toe gaan, I knew I was hearing Cape Jazz. Robbie later recorded the song for me as part of the Cape Medley, on his Cape Doctor album"
