THE RISE of AFRICAN JAZZ and RELATED STYLES Vis-A-VIS AMERICAN JAZZ

THE RISE OF AFRICAN JAZZ AND RELATED STYLES VIs-A-VIS AMERICAN JAZZ ... Africa was a long way past original music works. She was drunk with American and English music works and quite inevitably, too. The missionaries had taught that the music of Africa was barbarian. Barbaric. Barbarous. Africa had to abandon African music as such. Africa had to learn Western music. Tonic Sol-fa. The Hallelujah Chorus. "In this hour of softened splendour" (Drum Ju~y 1957:43). As with other landmarks in the development of South Afiican urban styles, the gradual 'Afiicanising' of urban music was beset by currents and cross-currents of intellectual opinion. This chapter will attempt to unravel some of the strands of ideological, political and philosophical thought, expressed in the press, which appear to be related to the various stages of the process by which Afiican elements were incorporated into black urban music, and in particular, those which surrounded the birth and demise of Afiican jazz. Invariably, the concepts and beliefs implicated were related to the different ideological strategies for gaining freedom which were adopted to a greater or lesser degree of consciousness or unconsciousness by different groups of black South Afiicans. Similar to the issues which had dominated acceptance of western and black American styles, ideological trends which governed opinions regarding the incorporation of previously deprecated indigenous materials into urban performance, and specifically of marabi elements into jazz, are clearly articulated by the intellectual writers and readers of the newspapers and magazines. It must be stressed again that only the generalisations made and conclusions drawn about the viewpoints of this particular group can be substantiated by a variety of press articles. It is essential to contextualise the discussion which follows in this chapter by emphasising the slow and gradual nature of this 'Afiicanising' process, the seeds of which were sown in the 1930s and which germinated slowly and sporadically in the 1940s. In the 1950s, the decade which featured both protest and celebration in black South Afiica, 'Afiicanised' jazz-related styles which had emerged in the 1940s reached maturity in a heady melange of what can be termed 'assertive urban festivity' that still included much American material. A CHANGE OF trend IN popular styles IN the late 1950s AND the virtual demise OF American jazz as A mass-supported popular style heralded the veritable explosion OF A commercialised BLACK South African 'pop' trend IN the 1960s. Significantly AND controversially, these developments were ALL concurrent with the introduction OF the South African Broadcasting Corporation's now infamous 'Radio Bantu'. This thesis will argue that rather than the embrace OF A wholehearted political 'radicalism' (which, as manifestation OF A "groundswell" OF "militant protest" involved IN particular the playing AND composing OF African material (Ballantine 1993:55; 1991B:146)) AN ever-increasingly strident voice OF 'urban protest' which manifested as pride in black urban identity was adopted: BLACK South Africans OF ALL walks OF LIFE musically expressed their right to urban dwelling, AND the MEDIA OF expression incorporated both African AND American styles. Tentative at first, the adoption OF this ethos or 'approach' was gradual AND always contrasted by those for whom the IDEOLOGICAL AND socio-political context OF A 'liberal approach' (as described IN Chapter 4) remained the primary motivation for performance AND composition. The CHOICE OF stance was not straightforward AND was beset with complex issues; expressions OF contradiction AND ambivalence were rife. Rather than A BENIGN PLEADING for co-operation AND moderation, A voice OF assertive protest BEGAN tentatively IN the late 1930s. In directly inverse proportion to the extent AND number OF draconian oppressive laws introduced by the South African government, it developed gradually IN the 1940s, AND BECAME positively strident IN the 1950s. In politics, it would appear that the transformation from A moderate to A radical approach CAN BE briefly described as the embrace - IN the late 1940s, AND generally more vociferously expressed IN the press articles OF the 1950s - OF A more assertive form OF African Nationalism than that which HAD BEEN mooted IN previous decades by the ANC. Strategies OF political opposition, begun IN the 1940s but which BECAME A dominant feature OF the 1950s, included measures OF DEFIANCE AND protest symptomatic OF the adoption OF A more radical approach to liberation than that which HAD previously BEEN advocated by the 'old guard' ANC politicians. The manifestation OF A virile AND oppositional African Nationalism HAD begun IN the political milieu OF the 1940s. It was the LOGICAL outcome OF the realisation, which HAD begun to dawn nearly A DECADE earlier, that BLACK South Africans HAD effectively BEEN "locked out OF A fully South African nationalism" (Couzens 1985:256). Inherent IN this more ardent notion OF African Nationalism was the generally AND immediately pertinent concept OF the assertion OF the BLACK South Afiican's urban persona. Above the vociferous discussions about 'moderate' AND 'extreme' currents IN Afiican Nationalism which punctuated AN era OF articulated overt BLACK oppositional debate hitherto unprecedented IN South Africa, A clear AND united voice could BE heard protesting the inviolable right to AN urban LIFE AND urban identity. It BECAME AN ostinato to the chorus OF debate which centred around the methodologies, strategies AND forms OF African Nationalism which BECAME positively cacophonous IN the 1950s. Intellectual posturing ON African Nationalism often included the perceived NEED to engender pride IN Afiican culture. However, it is A vital contention OF this work that IN practice the transformation to AN assertive form OF urban protest, which occurred under the general mantle OF Afiican Nationalism, DID not imply A simultaneous AND unconditional acceptance OF African heritage for everyone concerned. The missionisation process as well as issues OF tribalism AND ethnicity IN relation to Government policies resulted IN A complex interplay OF strategies AND perceptions which deterred some from accepting, AND urged others to embrace, African cultural elements as part OF their urban African identity. Some, particularly amongst the educated whose views were expressed IN the press, exhibited ambivalence AND contradiction IN regard to this issue which for them was inextricably LINKED with ruralism or LACK OF Christianity AND education. The essential difference between moderate (i.e. those who advocated A 'liberal approach') AND 'radical' politica1leaders - as epitomised but not necessarily solely or wholly represented by the 'old guard' ANC ON the ONE hand, AND Youth League ON the other - was captured by Fighting Talk, A non-racial leftwing publication. Refuting the fact that the Defiance Campaign OF 1952 HAD officially adopted the "ideology OF passive resistance ... as evolved by Mahatma Gandhi", the writer, Alan Doyle, asserts that the "satyagrahis" IN India were APPEALING to the "moral conscience OF the rulers": It certainly was not AND is not the outlook OF the leaders OF the national liberation movement IN South Africa who live CHEEK by jowl with their oppressors AND are only too well aware OF the futility OF APPEALING to their non-existent moral conscience or better feelings .,. Congress does not believe in melting the stony hearts of the oppressors, but in effective mass action to assert the people's rights to freedom and equality (Fighting Talk 1957: 13). The political feeling of the masses can only be gauged from references or deductions made by elite journalists and politicians. One such glimpse is the following poignant sketch by Joe Matthews in Fighting Talk: In one newspaper photograph of a demonstration in the St Faith's area there appeared a solitary African woman wielding a stick in defiance at a Saracen. The tragedy of that photograph was the disproportion revealed in the woman with the stick and an armoured vehicle of war to deal with her ... When will they stop regarding themselves as an Army of occupation looking upon every act of the people as a potential military threat to be put down with heavy armour? (Fighting Talk September 1959:4). In the music arena, the transformation for some ~o a hardened attitude of protest, rather than a benign demonstration of worthiness characteristic of the approach of 'moral persuasion', is most clearly expressed by Es'kia Mphahlele. In response to the Separate Amenities Act which made performances to racially mixed audiences illegal, he expresses the hurt fiustration of 'liberals' and advocates a retaliatory total boycott of South Afiica by overseas artists. Writing in 1962, he notes that the Syndicate of Afiican Artistes, of which he was a founding member, had earlier requested the British Musician's Union and Equity to boycott South Afiica unless they were allowed to perform to multi- racial audiences. This request had not been supported by the more powerful Union of Southern Afiican Artistes. The reasons for their attitude were essentially rooted in the 'liberal' nature of those managing this body as well as those controlling the black press. Significantly, Mphahlele deems the tactics of moral persuasion of the past decades to have been in vain, given the hostile response of South Afiican whites. Notably, the strategy of 'moral persuasion' of black Americans is declared to be inappropriate to the South Afiican situation and useless to emulate. Of particular interest to this discourse is the expression of racial pride which manifests in the reference to the superiority of Afiican musical ability: ... the people who controlled the African Press were ... influenced very strongly by liberals who always have views such as those of the Union of Southern African Artistes management had at the time. So we could not publicise our campaign. The Union thought up another argument to rationalise its actiVItIes. The management said by entertaining whites [even on segregation terms] our artistes (sic) would be bridging the cultural gap between the various races.

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