Tuesday, September 28, 2010Flames on both sides of the Atlantic by Mkhululi Z MabijaSathima Bea Benjamin is a jazz vocalist from Cape Town, South Africa who has made the shores of America her home and she pours the spirit of South Africa in every note she sings. With the help of Duke Ellington, Benjamin arrived in New York City with her pianist husband, Abdullah Ibrahim, in the 1960s and never looked back. Escaping the brutality of apartheid, Ibrahim and Benjamin hoped that through music, they could survive being in exile through four-part harmony. And they did.
Share this post:
Share this post:
Tuesday, September 14, 2010Hearing Africa by OKAYAFRICA Africa is everywhere. This summer the entire world focused on South Africa for the World Cup while Fela Kuti’s life is memorialized night after night on Broadway. K’Naan is playing to sold out stadiums and Bono is proclaiming our times the “African Decade." Every day more people are taking genealogical DNA tests and discovering where they’re really from, even down to what tribe they may belong to. It’s simply impossible to overlook how Africa today (and its cultural legacy of centuries past) is now newly permeating our culture.
Share this post:
Share this post:
Newsletter
RSS
