(Madala Kunene)
The Centre for Jazz and Popular will present the first
Twosday gig of 2020 with the legendary Madala Kunene on February 18, 2020.
Madala Kunene was born in 1951 in Cato Manor and later moved
to Kwa-Mashu Township after his family was evicted by the Apartheid government.
Despite being born into a family of eminent academics he hardly spent time in
school signalling his uniquely unconventional nature and his single-mindedness.
At the age of seven, he made his first guitar out of tins to entertain people
on the Durban beachfront leading to his popularity in the townships.
Kunene was discovered by Sipho Gumede and moved to
Johannesburg where he worked with ‘Songamasu’ Band which shared stages with the
likes of Doc Mthalane, Shawn Philips, Mankunku Ngozi and Busi Mhlongo. He
returned home in the mid-1970s, to protect his family’s properties upon
violence which had erupted, thus offering him the opportunity to hone and
develop his craft while playing low-key gigs in and around the townships. He
later introduced the “Madala Line”, a style of guitar which fused blues, soul
with Zulu folklore despite pressures to play western styles.
Madala’s international recording career took off in 1994
when participated in the legendary Outernational Meltdown recording of the
label B&W Music that brought Airto Moreira, Jose Neto, Byron Wallen and
Andrew Missingham to Joburg and Cape Town to collaborate with local artistes.
His first international solo album was released in the year 2000 titled Kon’ko Man and subsequently joined
forces with Swiss guitarist Max Lässer during the second edition of the
Outernational Meltdown recording for the album Madamax. He later released a second album titled Bafo.
Kunene has performed on several international stages in
Europe, Asia and America with artists such as Brazilian legend Airto Moreira,
Cuban master Changuito, Mabi Thobejane and Cameroonian drummer Brice Wassy. He
has also collaborated with the late Syd Kitchen, Greg Georgiades, Ernest
Mothle, Ashis Joshi, Ntombe Thongo, Indian legend Debashish Bhattacharya, Hugh
Masakela and members of Kwani Experience.
Since 2014, Bafo (as he is affectionately called) has been
working with Forest Jam in Switzerland with his long-standing friend Max Lässer
teaching traditional music. He has continually been touring, performing around
Southern Africa with the Forest Jam Band. The band has performed in such
festivals as Sakifo in the Reunion Island and its sister event in Durban.
At the Centre for Jazz, Madala BAFO Kunene will be joined by
Njabulo Shabalala on percussion and Sthembiso Ntuli on saxophone.
The concert takes place on February 18, 2020, at 18h00 (doors
open at 17h30) at the Centre for Jazz and Popular music (CJPM), Level 2,
Shepstone Building at UKZN Howard College Campus. General admission R90 (R60
pensioners, R30 students). Contact Thuli on 031 260 3385 or email
Zamat1@ukzn.ac.za for more details.
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