Mannenberg": Notes on the Making of an Icon and Anthem1
African Studies Quarterly | Volume 9, Issue 4 | Fall 2007 "Mannenberg": Notes on the Making of an Icon and Anthem1 JOHN EDWIN MASON Abstract: Abdullah Ibrahim's [Dollar Brand] composition "Mannenberg" was an instant hit, when it was released on the 1974 album, Mannenberg is Where It's Happening. This paper shows that the song is a product of Ibrahim's efforts to find an authentically South African mode of expression within the jazz tradition, blending South African musical forms -- marabi, mbaqanga, and langarm--with American jazz-rock fusion. It quickly became an icon of South African jazz, defining the genre both within the country and overseas. At the same time, the South African coloured community invested the song with their own meaning, transforming it into an an icon of their culture and of themselves. In the 1980s, "Mannenberg" had a second life as an anthem of the struggle against apartheid. Some called it South Africa's "unofficial national anthem." Once again, the song acquired a new meaning, this time through the efforts of musicians, especially Basil Coetzee and Robbie Jansen, who made it the musical centerpiece of countless anti- apartheid rallies and concerts. As the paper traces this narrative, it is constantly aware of the profound influence of African-American culture and political thought on Ibrahim and the coloured community as a whole. Introduction On a winter's day in 1974, a group of musicians led by Abdullah Ibrahim (or Dollar Brand, as most still knew him) entered a recording studio on Bloem Street, in the heart of Cape Town, and emerged, hours later, having changed South African music, forever.
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