Kwela

Kwela also Pennywhistle Jive, is the name of a jazz -oriented, South African music from the 1950s. A characteristic feature is the use of the tin whistle ( penny whistle ) as a melody instrument.

Inspired by musicians such as Lester Young, Count Basie, Cab Calloway and other musicians of the swing era emerged in the townships of South Africa in the 1950s, the Kwela music. It is based on the Marabi sound and has a cheerful character. Kwela is characterized by rapid, forward urgent rhythm. The chord progression is usually tonic - subdominant - tonic-dominant, these chords are equal. Despite the influence of the North American Kwela is according to an analysis by Gerhard Kubik " astonishingly rich in African elements ". The topics of the tracks are usually on short sequence forms two to four measure melodic motifs, constructed as they are known from the traditional music of Africa, and rounded in a regular Summationsmetrum. Improvisation does not take place on the harmonies; Rather, the starting points of the game are the short improvised melodic themes. Blue Notes occur in numerous Kwela pieces.

Kwela was played on the streets of South Africa mostly in a Skiffleband instrumentation: one to three Penny Whistles, special metal Recorders of the German company Hohner, one built from a tea chest einsaitiger bass, a guitar and a rattle, for example, a filled with cherry stones bottle. This music was very popular in the 1950s and was therefore included with flutists as Lemmy Mabaso, Spokes Mashiyane and Aaron Lerole and marketed successfully. The music industry is changing for the recordings early on the sound and replaced, for example, the rattle of a drum, the upright bass through a bass and sometimes the flute with a saxophone. To Kwela music was danced with swinging movements.

In Johannesburg Kwela bands belonged to about 1962 general streetscape. Kwela quickly spread to much of southern Africa, for example, in Malawi, where the band by Donald Kachamba nourishes the way of making music. The South African Kwela Tebza band, playing in the descendants of Aaron and Jack Elias Lerole, participated in the opening ceremony of FIFA.Confederations Cup 2009 in Johannesburg.

Saxophonists like Kippie Moeketsi and Gwigwi Mrwebi took on the newly created play and transferred them to the South African jazz; later from her the Cape jazz. About the compositions by Abdullah Ibrahim, Dudu Pukwana, Feza Mongezi or Chris McGregor and North American and European jazz musicians came into contact with the Kwelastil.

Published in 1962 the album A Swingin 'Safari of the German musician Benrd Kaempfert, which is significantly influenced by the Kwela music.

The word comes from the isiZulu kwela, meaning " up ", but was used as a " kwela - kwela " for police cars. For an invitation to dance is connected on one side, but also a warning of police raids in the illegal dispensing stations.