By Mzwandile Gogwana
I write in my capacity as part of the audience which attended the show in December 2023 to share my experience and appreciation. As a preamble I must say that it grieves one to be using the language of race, to be referring to blacks and whites. I think we long for the day when skin colour is insignificant in South Africa, when we live together as South Africans. But the wounds inflicted on black people by the erstwhile apartheid state cannot be cured overnight so continued reference to black and white is inevitable. It was OR Tambo and Nelson Mandela who openly articulated the point that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, Blacks and Whites. In terms of the new political dispensation, it was envisaged that there shall be room for everybody with everyone enjoying its riches and benefits of the new democratic country without administrative impediments and frustrations which effectively blocks those who are not connected with the powers that be.
The activists in Germany and indeed other progressive nations of the world played their part in mounting pressure on South Africa to abolish the system of apartheid, but little has it ever dawned in our minds that even in a new political dispensation there would be those on the periphery who would never enjoy the emergence democracy and freedom in South Africa. Some structures and formations in Germany including those in which Johnny Dyani resented apartheid in South Africa and were outspoken about the situation during the 1980s and earlier years.
About the show
Jazz shows have been rare in the Eastern Cape in recent times, and this is of great concern especially from the point of view of the elderly folks. While I appreciate all music genres, the last jazz show was when we had the late Sibongile Khumalo performing in East London a few years ago. The Ginsberg show brought back the good old days of jazz symphony representing serious thought-provoking reminiscence of yesteryear. The jazz band was absolutely astounding where each participant playing their part with high levels of precision. Thomas Dyani the Percussionist was jumping on the stage in high gear entertaining the audience. The entire audience in the auditorium including Johnny Dyani’s family were so excited. The Ginsberg audience and people from East London were well entertained. There were young people who were part of the audience and they too looked so pleased.
Elisabeth Ehrhorn delivered a talk on the background to the whole idea behind the Jazz against apartheid music as initiated by some activist groups in Germany in the 1980’s led by Professor Perggy Luswazi. She talked about the idea of connecting the mind with the heart and it was this part of her speech that resonated deeply in my mind, it made me think seriously about the positive communication role of jazz and music in general. During struggle days and even today freedom songs played a significant part in mobilising the masses of the people towards a common goal. The goal of transforming society and getting people to unite and speak with one voice. Most leaders from of all political formations use songs to mobilise people to support them. All countries of the world sing their national Anthem at the start of the match to demonstrate their allegiance. This goes to show the role of music in various scenarios and how it pervades everything. The soft, short, and polite speech by Elisabeth Ehrhorn received a deep meaning in myself as part of the audience. On a sad parting note she explained how Johnny collapsed on stage and was ferried to hospital where he died. One cannot help but to suspect that it could have been a cardiac failure caused by deep thinking about the political violence taking place in South Africa during the mid-80s. There was war in South Africa at the time with mass killings mainly by the apartheid state with immense resistance from the masses of the people which resulted in a state of emergency being declared, followed by the arrest of thousands of people for a number of years and jailed without trial. Johnny must have been hearing about these atrocities and extremely frustrated particularly being a victim of the cruel system of apartheid himself. I really enjoyed the speech by Elisabeth at the show, it added impetus on the rationale for the ongoing work of Jazz against apartheid music project and its annual commemorations.
About Eastern Cape
The Eastern Cape, particularly East London, Komani (Queenstown) and Gqebera (Port Elizabeth) is a traditional centre of jazz. Since the late 1950’s as a little boy in East London I observed that there was profound appreciation of music in all genres, people from different backgrounds were united through music competitions and general entertainment. As I got older and reaching high school my peers and I attended theatre shows such as Guluva at Large, Xapha Goes to Town, Gibson Kente shows, John Kani shows and in more recent times Sarafina and King Kong all of which had jazz-like musical rhythms. Attending cinemas was another entertainment outlet where we watched pop music by international stars such as The Beatles and Elvis Presly etc. Life was good. We would go to town to shop and go to cinema every Saturday. Music was the main means of entertainment especially jazz.
About Johnny Dyani
The young Johnny wearing jean bellbottom pair of trousers walking down Bantu, Friedrick and Loyd streets in East Bank Location selling milk is recalled. It was him who founded a Jazz Group called Revellers and later the Junior Four Yanks burning his fingers as a Bassist. The ugly looking Mongezi Feza, a powerful trumpeter hailing from Queenstown was there too, so were the likes of Tax Nduluka on trumpet and Dick Khoza on drums. Johnny and others attended the Castle Lager Jazz Festival in Johannesburg where Mongezi received an award as the best trumpeter. Unfortunately, Johnny did not get an award at the festival despite his marvellous performance.
Johnny, with the assistance of Chris McGregor was also part of the Blue Notes and went to Johannesburg and as part of McGregor’s Big Band which later toured Europe. The news of his untimely death in 1986 shocked the whole world. It happened at a sad time in South Africa when there was violence. At his funeral at the Civic Centre in Mdantsane, it was like a show with jazz lovers dancing and rejoicing while at the same time looking so sad at the passing of a jazz legend. Jazz legends were there to bid him farewell, one can mention the likes of Tete Mbambisa on piano, Horn players such as Tax Nduluka on Trumpet and Tolly Goduka on Alto Saxophone, Nkinki Skhwebu on Tenor Sax and Aubrey Simani playing amazing sets while Dick Khoza was hitting the drums with Mzwandile Mbejeni on lead guitar. It looked like Johnny’s body was accompanied by two wives from Germany. It was a solemn event. It was sad indeed.
About East London Artists and Legends
I would prefer to confine my input to East London where I grew up and mingled with many jazz legends. My serious observation started at the adolescence stage in the early 1960’s. Some of the things I will mention may be contradicted by those who were older than myself including Johnny were he still alive. My challenge is that most legends have since passed on so it makes it difficult to obtain authentic references. Jazz groups were mainly associated with clever township guys and was taboo in rural communities. Centres of entertainment were CC Loyd Hall, Centre Civic Hall, and Clement Kadallie Hall. We had jazz groups such as Havana Swingstars, The Four Yanks and Junior Four Yanks which included Johnny and his close friend the late Fets Mbambisa on piano. Other groups included the Bright Fives which was a group of five vocalists such as Lulama Ngqisha, Elby Ngqisha, Herbert Booi. The Revellers which were founded by Johnny and Mongezi Feza were part of the jazz legends which offered a repertoire of jazz genres which kept us jiving the whole night especially over weekends. Life was good. The City of East London was kept united through sport, concerts, choral music, and jazz, indeed there was no better place to live in than East London.
