Coloured Identity and Jazz Music

The history of jazz in Cape Town, and South Africa, is one that tells a story of the struggle against apartheid and racial oppression to a stronger degree than that of hip-hop. The reason behind this is because jazz musicians were exploited and many of them went into exile when their music and performance was banned from South Africa (Miller, 2007: 133). Jazz music plays into the concept of what Afrikaaps is trying to portray because as Miller states, with reference to David Coplan, imported slaves from regions such as “Java, Malaya, the Malabar Coast of India, Madagascar, Mozambique and East Africa also brought with them a rich musical heritage” (Miller, 2007: 135). The musical heritage of the slaves combined with European influences and local Khoi-Khoi musical practices formulated what was known as ‘creolised’ forms of music such as ‘ghoemaliedjies’ (Miller, 2007: 135). Through these forms of music, a creolised language was created which is where the formulation of Afrikaans started occurring.

**************************************************************************

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Miller, Colin, 2007, “Julle kan ma New York toe gaan, ek bly in die Manenberg: an oral history of jazz in Cape Town from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s,” Imagining The City: Memories and Cultures in Cape Town, Field et al (eds.), HSRC Press: Cape Town.

**************************************************************************

FREE DOWNLOAD OF "IMAGINING THE CITY: MEMORIES AND CULTURES IN CAPE TOWN" - VISIT:
http://www.hsrcpress.ac.za/product.php?productid=2193