View source for Kwela

{{Short description|Street music from southern Africa}}
'''Kwela''' is a [[pennywhistle]]-based street music from southern Africa<ref>{{Cite book|title=Kwela, Allen|last=Brubeck|first=Darius|date=2003|publisher=Oxford University Press|series=Oxford Music Online|doi = 10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.j617700}}</ref> with jazzy underpinnings and a distinctive, [[skiffle]]-like beat. It evolved from the [[marabi]] sound and brought [[South Africa]]n music to international prominence in the 1950s.
The music has its roots in southern Africa but later adaptations of this and many other African folk idioms have permeated Western music (listen to the albums ''[[A Swingin' Safari]]'' by the [[Bert Kaempfert]] Orchestra (1962) and ''[[Graceland (album)|Graceland]]'' by [[Paul Simon]] (1986)), giving modern South African music, particularly [[jazz]], much of its distinctive sound and lilting swagger.  The Piranha's 1980 UK Top Ten hit '[[Tom Hark]]' was based on an earlier 1950s Kwela hit song.
One reason for the use of the pennywhistle is that it is cheap and portable, but it also lends itself as a solo or an ensemble instrument. The popularity of the pennywhistle may have been based on the fact that [[flute]]s of different kinds have long been traditional instruments among the peoples of the more northerly parts of South Africa and the pennywhistle thus enabled the swift adaptation of folk tunes into the new marabi-influenced music.
==Origin==
The most common explanation for the word "kwela" is that it is taken from the [[Zulu language|Zulu]] for "climb", though in township slang it also referred to police vans, the "kwela-kwela". Thus, it could be an invitation to join the dance, as well as serving as a warning. It is said that the young men who played the pennywhistle on street corners also acted as lookouts to warn those enjoying themselves in the [[shebeen]]s of the arrival of the police.<ref name="South African Music">{{Cite web |url=http://www.southafrica.info/about/arts/922564.htm |title=South African music: kwela. |access-date=2009-12-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111020132524/http://www.southafrica.info/about/arts/922564.htm |archive-date=2011-10-20 |url-status=dead }}</ref> White people, unaware of its meaning, then thought that it referred to the music when they heard people shouting "Here comes the kwela, kwela!" warning of the police's presence.<ref name=mg>{{cite news |url=https://mg.co.za/article/1997-11-07-tom-harks-back-again/ |title=Tom Hark’s back … again|date=7 November 1997 |work= Mail & Guardian |first=Glynis |last=O'Hara }}</ref>
Kwela music was influenced by blending the music of [[Music of Malawi|Malawian]] immigrants to South Africa with the local South African sounds.<ref name="news.bbc.co.uk">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8185971.stm Nikki Jecks, "Reviving Malawi's music heritage", BBC World Service, 6 August 2009.]</ref> In [[Chewa language|Chichewa]], "kwela" has a similar meaning to the South African one: "to climb". The music was popularised in South Africa and then brought to Malawi, where contemporary Malawian artists have also begun producing kwela music.<ref name="news.bbc.co.uk"/>
[[File:I-IV-I64-V.png|thumb|I-IV-I<math>{}^6_4</math>-V. {{audio|I-IV-I64-V.mid|Play}}]]
Although it has been asserted that kwela music exclusively uses the [[chord progression]] I-IV-I<math>{}^6_4</math>-V.,<ref>Manuel, Peter (1990). ''Popular Musics of the Non-Western World: An Introductory Survey'', p.11. {{ISBN|978-0-19-506334-9}}.</ref> others maintain that there is no specific kwela chord progression, or that I-IV-V-I and I-I-IV-V are particularly prevalent.<ref>Allen, Lara (1999). "Kwela: the Structure and Sound of Pennywhistle Music", p.229. {{ISBN|1-85928-143-5}}.</ref>
==Artists==
Artists such as Lemmy Mabaso were renowned for their pennywhistle skills, and [[Spokes Mashiyane]] was one of the most prominent with his kwela pennywhistle tunes.<ref name="South African Music"/>
Other artists include The Skylarks, [[Jack Lerole]], Aaron Lerole, The Solven Whistlers, [[Kippie Moeketsi]], [[Donald Kachamba]] and Gwigwi Mrwebe.
==References==
{{reflist}}
==Further reading==
*''Pennywhistle Kwela: a Musical, Historical and Sociopolitical Analysis''. Lara V. Allen, MA (Natal-Durban). 1993.
*''In Township Tonight! South Africa's Black City Music & Theatre''. 2nd edition. David B. Coplan, The University of Chicago Press. 2008. {{ISBN|0-226-11567-4}}. pp.&nbsp;190–99.
==External links==
*[http://www.last.fm/tag/kwela Kwela] at [[Last.fm]]
*[http://www.kwela.co.uk/ The Kwela Project - website about playing kwela]
{{Genres of African popular music}}
[[Category:South African styles of music]]