Amampondo, formed in 1979, was originally made up of seven young men from Langa Township, outside Cape Town. Amampondo, means, literally, people from Mpondo - Pondo land, in the Eastern Cape - Transkei - between Umtata and Port St Johns. They chose this name to reflect their strong desire to preserve South African and Southern African traditional music and the Xhosa musical traditions and instruments, keeping them alive and growing. Twenty years later Mandla Lande, Simpiwe Matole, Nkululeko 'Michael' Ludonga, Zandisile 'Blackie' Mbizela, Mzwandile Qotoyi, together with the newer members are still bound by their dedication to preserving their culture.

The group's journey has been a long one. Starting out in 1978 in Langa, playing in St Antonys Church, they were introduced to the marimbas by father Dave Dargie and also joined the Church Choir under Mrs Gugu Kula. Eventually, after being surrounded by the vibrant Township Jazz of that time, they found the desire to develop their own musical style. Needing to buy their own marimbas they busked on the streets of Cape Town to raise money and whilst doing this were discovered by a journalist from the Cape Argus newspaper, Bruce Gordon. He was impressed by what he saw and the potential for the future, so offered to became their first manager. Also at this time they met Themba Tana who had been studying in Zimbabwe at Kwanongoma College of music, he had a 20-piece Afro Jazz group called AfroVibrations.They played a couple of gigs with this exciting group at Marakana football pitch - jokingly known locally as Wembley Stadium - to an audience of thousands.

These were their first professional gigs and gave them the inspiration to take music seriously as a profession. They went on to play at political meetings, especially for the meat workers who were on strike 1980, performing in between the speeches and whilst the strikers were eating lunch. Also with Fitzroy Ngcukana who recited political poems over the music. The downside of this was that they were becoming of interest to the apartheid authorities, who began to see the group as a threat to their repressive regime. The police often raided these political meetings, using tear gas and dogs to break them up; many times the guys had to disperse leaving their instruments behind. The intensity of this police activity increased, with direct threats to Simpiwe Matole and Nkululeko 'Michael' Ludonga, forcing them to leave the area for months at a time.

In 1981 they played gigs at a venue in Cape Town called the Scratch Club, between Shortmarket Street and Longmarket Street. It was the place for up and coming bands and was run by an eccentric, (especially for South Africa at that time), guy from the UK, Gerry Dixon. He was a Punk, complete with, as Simpiwe recalls, tight black jeans, spiky hair of varying colour and red pointed shoes. Gerry was excited by the local music of Cape Town at that time; he did not understand the intricacies of the politics of separation, his club having a mixed audience somewhat reminiscent of venues in District Six in the fifties. This was obviously contrary to the master plan of the system, inevitably leading to confrontations with the authorities.

The group continued gigging in the city area, often performing at the University of Cape Town and generally raising their profile. In 1983 whilst playing the Grahamstown festival they met Andrew Tracey an expert on Southern African Music who had been making recordings of indigenous music since the late 1960's - he introduced them to the Kudu horns, a tuned set of horns from the an animal similar to a Deer or Springbok. He also showed them the Akadinda, a large wooden xylophone made with blocks of wood, tuned by size and the Chopi xylophone from Mozambique; they still play these instruments today.

In 1983 they travelled to Johannesburg to play a series of gigs at the Market Theatre. Planning on spending two weeks there, they ended up keeping Joburg as their base for the next five years. At this time Joburg was a center of a thriving arts scene born out of the struggle, and Amampondo were mixing with the many other artists who were living and working there. There was increasing international interest in the music, theatre and arts emanating from the struggle in South Africa, with shows such as Ipi Tombi travelling to Europe and the USA. Amampondo got their first international break travelling to Israel in 1984, staying on a Kibbutz for eight months. Unfortunately this led to problems with the ANC, who saw Israel as a state that collaborated with the Apartheid regime.

They began to tour all over the world - to the Edinburgh festival in 1986 - to Reunion - Taiwan - and many other countries. Living in London for eight months in 1987 whilst sorting out the situation with the ANC.

In 1988 Amampondo were asked to play at Nelson Mandela's seventieth birthday concert at Wembley. This spectacular performance established their international reputation as South Africa’s best traditional group and seen by millions on television worldwide was a huge success for the band. All their fees were donated to the ANC demonstrating their continuing political activism.

They recorded an album 'Give Praise Where Praise Is Deserved' with Archbishop Desmond Tutu, after he won the Nobel peace Prize and became ambassadors of South African music, being recommended by Nelson Mandela after his release from prison. It was he who nominated them to represent their country at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games held in Atlanta in 1996 and for a very successful tour of Japan, in 1995.

In 1996 they released their debut album for the MELT2000 label based in the UK, 'Drums for Tomorrow' (BW096) Produced by Cameroonian drummer and percussionist Brice Wassy. It features guests from around the world - such as Airto Moreira from Brazil and Changuito from Cuba, Emmanuelle Sejourne from France and Chris Stiefel from Switzerland.

They have collaborated with many other groups and musicians, bringing with them their own imitable style -Including - Juno Reactor with whom they have toured with in the USA, Japan, Mexico and Australia.Clad in body paint and full costume Amampondo wowed the crowds with their acrobatics whilst beating out their percussive rhythms alongside Ben Watkins’ guitar riffs and electronic grooves. They collaborated on 'Shango' (ELM8033), Juno’s new album.

In 1999 they collaborated with British saxophone player Alan Skidmore on his critically acclaimed album ‘The Call’ on Provocateur Records (PVC 1018). In 2003 a new album called 'UBIZO' (PVC1036) was released - Alan and the band toured the UK in November 2003

Having toured the world and played in over thirty countries, their dynamic and exciting show traverses cultural and musical boundaries and has made them the popular percussion ensemble that they are today. The closing of the millennium marked a milestone in the life of Amampondo, celebrated in the release of ‘Vuyani’ (BW2143) in October 2000.

This album celebrates their 20 years of music making. It looks forward with some exciting new tracks, whilst drawing from some of their great tunes from the past performed in new ways.

Featuring guests from the amazingly talented musicians that live in the townships, often struggling to survive in a country that does not always appreciate its own talent, this is a showcase for the music of Cape Town.

Through the 20 years Amampondo have had many struggles, fighting to perform their music and keep traditions alive, whilst being seen as a threat by the Apartheid regime that harassed them and tried to make their lives as difficult as possible. To survive for so long in the face of such pressure is quite an achievement, they deserve recognition for their part in keeping Xhosa culture alive and growing. Today the pressures are different and many members of the group are working with young people to teach them how to play traditional instruments. The future in South Africa still looks good!

‘Vuyani' was recorded and co-produced, with Simpiwe Matole, by engineer Chris Lewis.

 

For Amampondo pdf's visit the download section

AMAMPONDO DOWNLOADS

Official site:
www.amampondo.com