Kwela is a happy, often pennywhistle-based, street music from southern Africa with jazzy underpinnings and a distinctive, skiffle-like beat. It evolved from the marabi sound and brought South African music to international prominence in the 1950s.

The music has its roots in southern Africa but later adaptations of this and many other African folk idioms have permeated Western music (listen to Graceland by Paul Simon) and give modern South African music, particularly jazz, much of its distinctive sound and lilting swagger.

One reason for the use of the pennywhistle is that it is cheap and portable, but it also lends itself as a solo or an ensemble instrument. The popularity of the pennywhistle may have been based on the fact that flutes of different kinds have long been traditional instruments among the peoples of the more northerly parts of South Africa, and the pennywhistle thus enabled the swift adaptation of folk tunes into the new marabi-influenced music.

Contents 1 Origin 2 Artists 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Origin

The roots of this musical style were brought to South Africa by migrants from Malawi, who blended their music with traditional South African music of the 1940s and '50s. Thus, although the sound is trans-African, 'kwela' was born in South Africa and popularized as South African music.

The word "kwela" is taken from the Zulu for "get up", though in township slang it also referred to the police vans, the "kwela-kwela". Thus, it could be an invitation to join the dance, as well as serving as a warning. It is said that the young men who played the pennywhistle on street corners also acted as lookouts to warn those enjoying themselves in the shebeens of the arrival of the police^[1].

[edit] Artists

Artists such as Lemmy Mabaso were renowned for their pennywhistle skills, and Spokes Mashiyane was one of the most prominent with his kwela pennywhistle tunes. Other artists include

• Aaron “Big Voice Jack” Lerole

[edit] References

• Pennywhistle Kwela: a Musical, Historical and Sociopolitical Analysis. Lara V. Allen, MA (Natal-Durban). 1993.

[edit] External links

• Kwela at Last.fm
• The Kwela Project - website about playing kwela

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