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MUSIC NEWS
Time to give traditional music its due

Ancestral Grooves, a groundbreaking production featuring the Mzantsi Traditional Orchestra (MTO) opens on Tuesday, at the Old Mutual Theatre on the Square for a short run.

MUSIC NEWS

Time to give traditional music its due

May 20, 2008 By Kgomotso Moncho Fact: Traditional music does not get the credit it deserves in SA. But the fight for its preservation has not ended. It's now moving to theatre. Ancestral Grooves, a groundbreaking production featuring the Mzantsi Traditional Orchestra (MTO) opens on Tuesday, at the Old Mutual Theatre on the Square for a short run. It's directed by singer/songwriter Laurie Levine. Arrangements are by some of the country's renowned composers, musicians and indigenous instrumentalists as well as Pops Mohamed, Anthony Caplan, George Gobingca Mxadana, Ross Johnson and Neil Solomon. The show is a combination of SA's nearly extinct traditional instruments with an assortment of Western ones. Expect to hear reed pipes, kudu horns, Venda drums, sounds of the bushman trance, marimbas and mbiras alongside cellos, guitars and house beats. It is Levine's directorial debut. As a freelance researcher and writer, she wrote a book, Traditional Music of South Africa, for the Drum Café, in 2005 and worked within and developed the organisation's African Music Agency department. The Drum Café, a sponsor of Ancestral Grooves, invited her to direct the production. "It's been interesting directing this show. It's challenging to work with 10 people. The focus is to place traditional music in a modern fashion. There will be a lot of singing as well," Levine said. The MTO, launched in 2003, is SA's first traditional orchestra. The ensemble has been limited to 10 members due to budget constraints. Talking about the aesthetics of traditional music, Levine said: "Compared to Western music African music is played differently .  "It is better when played in a group. It is spontaneous and more relevant to a community. It tends to have a haunting sound that I have never heard before." On working with Pops, who is known for his contribution to the preservation of traditional music, Levine said: "He brings a beautiful feel to the music. He has an interesting ear and it's very sensitive." Pops performs on four pieces in the show and has been acting as a mentor to the MTO.  "My job has been to teach them to sing traditional songs. We do a song by Abdullah Ibrahim called Manenberg. On it the ladies play marimba, it's beautiful.  "We also do My Baby Just Cares for Me, by Nina Simone and we add marimbas and mbiras to it." But his vision for Ancestral Grooves is bigger than the show. "I want to give the audience something to think about. We have invited people from radio stations - they shun indigenous music. We're hoping to open their ears to traditional music." One thing is for sure, traditional music will never be extinct so long as it has people like those involved in Ancestral Grooves fighting for it. Ancestral Grooves, today to Friday, at 8.15pm, lunch-hour concert, at 12.15pm, and on Saturday, at 6pm and 9pm.