Mahotella Queens- Izibani Zomgqashiyo (1977)

Hello all! My apologies for ducking out for a while- rest assured I've knocked the icicles off of my beard, climbed out of hibernation and sloughed off most of winter's lingering lethargy. In celebration of the first Spring day up here (it snowed a lot on the true equinox) I've decided to preempt myself and post a tingling thriller of exuberant beauty, Mahotella Queens' 1977 Izibani Zomgqashiyo. Do you remember when you listened to music as a child and spun around until you fell down dizzy with glee? This music will make you remember. It will get you high. Four-part female vocal harmony. Male basso-profundo "groaner" melody. Dueling quicksilver-fingered guitarists. Kinetic bouncing bass. Mgqashiyo: "the indestructible beat." Cut the roof off of your car and listen to this record.



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[Original Liner Notes]

It is a known fact that things come and go, but I say MAHOTELLA QUEENS are here to stay. You will agree with me after listening to this album, "IZIBANI ZOMGQASAHIYO" which is their latest.

Izibani Zomgqashiyao means the lights of Mgqashiyo and surely everybody knows that Mgqashiyo is an African kind of beat which will never die. In other words it can be quoted as an indestructible beat.

Mahotella Queens is a group of five girls which was formed in 1964 by Mr. R. Bopape, who was then a then a talent scout. They've cut many LP's and seven singles since then which many have become famous. You all remember "MARKS UMTHAKATHI" LPBS 9 which was one of their greatest albums ever cut. You will also remember that they won the 1975 Radio Bantu Best Group of the Year. These girls are sometimes accompanied by their male groaners Robert Mbazo Mkhize, Potatoes Mazambane or Joseph Mthimkhulu, who have now formed the fast growing Abafana Baseqhudeni, and of course not forgetting their backing, the everlasting Makhona Zonke ["Jack Of All Trades" -ed.] Band.

The girls are back in a big way, their first track in this album, "ZIBUYILE NONYAKA" (They Are Back This Year), confirms everything. Listen to this track and you will agree with me. Every track in this album is great and meaningful as it sends to you true messages. Mahotella Queens fans have been missing their sweet voices on records because they have been out on tour performing shows. So they are back as I already mentioned and this is what they bring you back in SWEET MUSIC.

The Mahotella Queens, Emily Zwane from Brakpan, Thandi Radebe from Dube (Soweto), Beatrice Ngcobo from Durban, Thandi Nkosi from Emdeni (Soweto) and Caroline Kapentar from Bloemfontein are the best Mgqashiyo entertainers in Southern Africa.

You all know Mahotella Queens, the mistresses of Mgqashiyo, so listen to this album and enjoy yourselves with Mahotella Queens and of course let me tip you, this music is for both the young and the old, so make no mistake it is superb.

-MARKS MANKWANE

Stanley Cowell- Regeneration (1976)

"kora, piano, synthesizer, mbira, water drum, parade drum, wooden fife, wooden flute, snare drum, ride cymbal, gembhre, acoustic guitar, bass drum, Ibo chanting, mama-lekimbe, bass, harmonica, acoustic bass, zuna, alto flute, Madagascan harp, vocals, and more."

-from the back cover

"And never stop your quest for truth
and always stand for right,
for you have gifts aplenty
inside your tiny frame,
and if you use them wisely,
Oh, my wee children,
all men will know your name."
-Lullaby

Stanley Cowell's album "Regeneration" was originally criticized for its "failure" to choose and stick with one genre, and it certainly does fail to do that. Something of a concept album, Cowell attempted to bring together members of the free jazz scene, traditional African musicians, and some more mainstream soul/jazz/pop artists to celebrate and regenerate the kind of musical miscegenation to which all of us as jazz fans are the happy beneficiaries. As a result it doesn't comfortably fit in any of these categories, and it was a bit too pop for the "out-there" scene's bearded weirdies, too out there for the mainstream, and too African for most everyone. Luckily times have changed, and if you don't feel this deep down in your soul I don't know what to say. It's a happy marriage, founded on love.

Enjoy!


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[Original Liner Notes]

("We dedicate 'REGENERATION' to Moriah Venable-Hicks and to you, with much love. We hope it is a reflection of those special moments of our Ancestral Stream, manifesting beauty and diversity, transcending all things, taking us higher and higher.")
Stanley Cowell, Jerry Venable, Viki-Maimoun-McLaughlin, Lois Johnson, Carole Byard

Side A
1. TRYING TO FIND A WAY (Cowell-McLaughlin)
Ed Blackwell, water drum; Stanley Cowell, synthesizer & piano; Billy Higgins, snare drum & ride cymbal; Aleke Kanonu, bass drum; Jerry Venable, acoustic guitar; Glenda Barnes, Charles Fowlkes, vocals.

2. THE GEMBHRE (Billy Higgins)
Billy Higgins, gembhre; Nadi Quamar, mama-lekimbe, percussion; Stanley Cowell, kora; Bill Lee, bass.

3. SHIMMY SHEWOBBLE (Marion Brown)
Marion Brown, wooden fife; Ed Blackwell, parade drum; Billy Higgins, snare drum; Aleke Kanonu, bass drum.


Side B
1. THANK YOU MY PEOPLE (Cowell-Kanonu)
Ed Blackwell, miscellaneous percussion; Stanley Cowell, kora; Charles Fowlkes, electric bass; Jimmy Heath, soprano sax; Billy Higgins, miscellaneous percussion; Kareema, vocals; Bill Lee, acoustic bass; Aleke Kanonu, Ibo chanting; John Stubblefield, zuna; Psyche Wanzandae, flute.

2. TRAVELIN' MAN (Cowell-Fowlkes)
Marion Brown, wooden flute; Stanley Cowell, mbira (thumb piano); Charles Fowlkes, vocals; Jimmy Heath, flute; Billy Higgins, miscellaneous percussion; Kareema, vocals; Bill Lee, acoustic bass; Nadi Quamar, mama-lekimbe.

3. LULLABYE (Cowell-Venable-McLaughlin)
Stanley Cowell, kora; Charles Fowlkes, vocals; Jimmy Heath, alto flute; Billy Higgins, gembhre; Kareema, vocals; Bill Lee, acoustic bass; Nadi Quamar, Madagascan harp.