I picked up some goodies for yesterday's Bandcamp Friday, much enjoyment from all of them, gave them some spins at DJ night last night at miniBAR. The Makgona Tsohle Band definitely puts some pep in the step, so awesome.
"The Band That Can Do Anything". That’s the literal English translation
of the name of a band whose creativity, productivity and influence ran
far and wide during the notorious era of racial oppression in South
Africa. The Makgona Tsohle Band was easily the most popular and highly
productive instrumental team in the African music business of the 1960s
and ‘70s. Assembled by formidable talent scout and producer Rupert
‘Bops’ Bopape, Makgona Tsohle provided musical accompaniment on
literally hundreds of Gallo recording sessions, as well as creating some
of the biggest dance hits of the era. They are often credited with the
invention of that staple township music, mbaqanga. A big boast – but
only a slight embellishment. Makgona Tsohle’s members were utterly
crucial to the style’s formation and development. Their fresh
innovations helped to reinforce the more modern, danceable, electrified
jive as the leading force in South African township music until the
mid-1970s.
The secret to the band’s success? They adapted with astonishing ease to
the genre demanded of them. Every style, whether sax/accordion jive,
American funk, bump jive, soul or jazz, was explored thoroughly in the
studio. Each Makgona Tsohle tune had its own memorable hook and riffs,
its own distinctive ambience and
beautiful entwinement of guitar, bass, drum and leading instrument – be
it saxophone, organ or violin. And now, 50 years on, Umsakazo Records
proudly presents an opportunity to hear the Makgona Tsohle Band in their
formative years, raw and unfiltered, direct from the original master
tapes in the Gallo archive vault.
"Makgona Tsohle Reggi" was originally issued on Rupert Bopape’s
Inkonkoni label in 1970 and comprises several of the band's most recent
hit singles. This record reaffirms the breadth of the Makgona Tsohle
Band’s exceptional musical genius, from pure African sax jive through to
swinging ‘60s soul and Jamaican ska, with hints of Motown, rocksteady
and ‘reggi’ along the way. This is the authentic sound of Soweto from
“The Band That Can Do Anything”!
