Sankomota is widely regarded as one of the greatest musical bands to come out of the tiny ‘mountain kingdom’ of Lesotho, Sankomota (originally Uhuru) was formed around 1976. It consisted of several members in its earliest years, namely – Frank Leepa (guitarist, vocalist, arranger, composer), Moss Nkofo (drummer), Black Jesus (percussion), Moruti Selate, Tsepo Tsola (lead vocalist, composer), Pitso Sera (guitar), among others.
However, when talking about Sankomota, one name stands out immediately, Tsepo Tsola.
A few years ago, the artist, who is commonly known as “the village pope,” recovered from 17 long years of addiction to both drugs and alcohol.
Not much can be found online about Tsepo Tsola but you can read more on Music.org.za
Tsepo Tsola “The Village Pope” (Pic: Winter Jazz Festival)
The Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions # 27: Tsepo Tsola & Sankomota
Over the next few Sundays, Howzit-HongKong.com will feature a YouTube clip of one (or more) of the musicians and their sounds who have influenced and shaped South African and specifically Cape Town music as part of what we like to call The Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions. I am fortunate to be living right next to one of the most stunning working harbours in the world… Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour. I often find myself staring across the Harbour at night, with the lights dimmed and one of my favourite musicians from home over the speakers. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do…
Leslie Kleinsmith has been performing on the South African Cabaret and Jazz for a whopping 38 years.
The consummate entertainer is these days known by his stage name of Leslie K Smith.
Due to the fact that it is very difficult to make a career as a musician in South Africa, Leslie has had to find a way to continue his musical career.
Thankfully he has made a name for himself on the international cruise-liner entertainment industry, and as a result, the local music scene still enjoys the talents of one of the Cape most-talented performers.
Mister Entertainer. Leslie performing on the Costa Pacifica (Pic: Flory Turcu on FaceBook)
I have scoured the internet and could only find the following short bio of Leslie Kleinsmith:
Sophisticated, eloquent, and absolutely entertaining are the only words that can describe this crooner. After 38 years in the South African Cabaret and Jazz music industry Leslie K. Smith has deservedly earned the title of Grand Performer.
When he’s not busy in the studio, Lesley is most at home with live intimate performances exuding a stage presence, voice and charisma of performers such as Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis, jnr, all of whom where influences in his formative years. His voice, now a sculpted tone of contra-alto leaning toward golden tenor evokes a warmth and pliability that turn great songs into personal innovation of love.
His most memorable performances include a lead role in District 6,
And wowing international stages of the Edinburgh Arts Festival in Scotland and the 1992 Miss World Contest where 600 million television viewers got to see him perform.
His ability to bring true emotion to music goes well with audiences who enjoy romantic inspiration, but it’s almost as though you can get just about any kind of soulful vibe from this “living jukebox”.
Over the next few Sundays, Howzit-HongKong.com will feature a YouTube clip of one (or more) of the musicians and their sounds who have influenced and shaped South African and specifically Cape Town music as part of what we like to call The Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions. I am fortunate to be living right next to one of the most stunning working harbours in the world… Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour. I often find myself staring across the Harbour at night, with the lights dimmed and one of my favourite musicians from home over the speakers. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do…
The annual fireworks extravaganza to usher in the Year of the Rabbit, took place last night (Friday 4 February 2011) over Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour.
About 300,000 people gathered on either side of Victoria Harbour on Tsim Sha Tsui- and Central-side to watch the display.
Many more watched from boats and other water-craft parked a safe distance outside our apartment window as you can see from the first clip in the video below.
The fireworks display lasted for exactly 23 minutes and 23 seconds which must have some auspicious significance.
Below is a shortened clip of the 23 minute display:
At the official launch of the 2011 Extreme Sailing Series™ in Estoril (Portugal) in December 2010, China was confirmed as one of nine the host countries – a new territory for this year’s circuit and a significant step into the burgeoning Asian market.
Organisers have revealed that Qingdao, the fourth largest manufacturing port in the country and known as the City of Sailing, will be the official host Chinese venue to Act 2 to be staged between 13th to 17th April.
The Extreme Sailing Series Race Village will be located in Fushan Bay, which was also the home of the Olympic Village in 2008, and will be open to the public between the 15th to 17th April when the 11-boat Extreme 40 fleet will race inside the bay right in front of the spectators [13th-14th April are ‘open water’ days when the fleet will be racing outside of Fushan Bay.
Masirah Oman at the Extreme Sailing Series in Hong Kong (Pic: Mike Jansen)
Goodbye Hong Kong
In November 2009, Howzit-HongKong happily reported that the “Formula One of Sailing” the Extreme Sailing Series” was coming to the waters of Victoria Harobour, Hong Kong.
While we thoroughly enjoyed the event and even got to wet our feet on one of the craft, the Hong Kong-leg turned out to be a less-than-expected spectator event. At the time, the wind in the Harbour was not sufficient and the races had to be moved (at the last minute) to further out to Kowloon Bay, in the region of old Kai Tak Airport. This being Hong Kong, the fact that it took place in the week was always going to count against it.
It therefore comes as no surprise that Mainland China has been chosen to replace Hong Kong as the preferred Chinese venue for this exciting event.
Qingdao, after all, has the profile and (Olympic sailing) infrastructure to make this event the spectator event that it needs.
Qingdao, China
Act 2, 15th – 17th April (13th-14th ‘open-water’ racing)
Now known as the City of Sailing, Qingdao’s became the host venue for sailing for Beijing’s 2008 Olympic Games boosting its profile to an international audience. Perfectly located on the Southeast peninsula surrounded on three sides by the Yellow Sea, Qingdao is now China’s premier sailing destination with first class facilities at its International Sailing Center.
Originally opened to tourism in 1984 the city now attracts 15 million visitors a year and is the fourth largest manufacturing port in the country. Framed by miles of golden sandy beaches, combined with steady winds that make it a perfect racing location.
Qingdao is a city steeped in China’s 20th century history. Now a tourism hotspot in China, the sprawling city has a population of 7.5 million and a vibrant economy. The Downtown skyline can rival that of any major city with an impressive array of cultures, cuisines, and lively nightlife. Tsingato, the most popular beer in China operates their headquarters and main brewery in Qingdao. The brewery is open to visitors who can take a tour around the oldest working brewery in China, whilst the brewery can be observed in action and guests can enjoy the beer tasting afterwards!
2011 Calendar & Host Venues:
Act 1: 22-24 February, Muscat, Oman (20-21 ‘open-water’ racing*)
Act 2: 15-17 April, Qingdao, China (13-14 ‘open-water’ racing)
Act 3: 27-29 May, Istanbul, Turkey (25-26 ‘open-water’ racing)
Act 4: 30 June – 4 July, Boston, USA (all days public event)
Act 5: 6-12 August, Cowes, UK (all days public event)
Despite the cold weather we have been experiencing over the Christmas weekend, today (Tuesday 28 December 2010) turned out to be quite a bright, sunny day here in Hong Kong.
Somebody on FaceBook asked me “Does Hong Kong ever get cold?“ Well, it dipped all the way to 9 degrees Celsius recently.
For this reason, my family and I took a trip into the city (Hong Kong Island) on the Star Ferry to experience the weather from the waters of Victoria Harbour (that separates our apartment in Hung Hom from HK Island).
I took the following pictures from the Star Ferry around 3pm this afternoon:
The HK Conference & Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) is bathed in brilliant sunlight (Pic: Mike Jansen)
Here are some more pics taken from the Star Ferry:
Few cities around the world can beat Hong Kong when it comes to it’s city-wide Christmas light-shows.
One would think that, with the world-wide focus on power-saving geared towards a greener earth, that the city-fathers would rather encourage developers and building/mall-owners to spend less on electrifying their Harbour-side properties.
Not Hong Kong!
From the heavy competition between Malls, tourist attractions such as DisneyLand, to restaurants and sky-scrapers… millions of dollars are spent over the festive season.
The DisneyLand castle’s faux snow.
IFC Mall in Central. HK’s hundreds of malls all compete for business… (Pic: Flickr)
Tsim Sha Tsui East, near my apartment in Hung Hom
I found this YouTube clip to show you the view of the skyline on either side of Victoria Harbour:
One of the iconic pictures of Hong Kong is undoubtedly the sight of junk boats in Victoria Harbour.
Although the junk is an ancient Chinese seafaring vessel, it is still in use today. While the larger junks are very much part of the party-scene in the SAR with scores of weekend party-goers taking to the seas around Hong Kong on party-junks, there are still many fisher folk using smaller junks to ply their trade.
The older junks were of course fitting with massive red/maroon sails, while these days they are all diesel-powered. Some of the corporate party-junks like the one in the picture below, even have faux-sails for added effect.
Two of the city’s icons: the junk framed by the famous Hong Kong island skyline
I took the following pictures of a fisherman’s junk working the waters of Victoria Harbour near my apartment:
The new and the old. A junk bobbing in the choppy waters of Victoria Harbour with the North Point/Kowloon Bay ferry (orange) in the background (Pics: Mike Jansen)
As I wrote earlier, I used to live in Ma On Shan for the first year after my family arrived in Hong Kong.
Ma On Shan is an extension of the Sha Tin New Town along eastern coast of Tolo Harbour in the New Territories of Hong Kong. It is located by the west face of the twin peaks of Ma On Shan, which can be translated as “horse saddle mountain“. The town is built on the strip between Tolo Harbour and Ma On Shan mountain. Deep inside the slope of Ma On Shan was an iron mine. The mine was long abandoned before the more recent new town development.
I recently went back there and was very impressed with the brand-spanking new promenade along Tolo Harbour.
However, the real gem of the area for me is the Ma On Shan Park. We used to live right next to the Park and spent many afternoons enjoying the facilities or just the tranquility of this green spot in this densely populated new town.
If you look at the picture below (taken from nearby Shatin, overlooking the world-famous Shatin Racecourse) you would not imagine that there is such a green belt amongst the throngs of high-rise buildings. But it is there, right behind the low-rise building on the top-left edge of the picture (I used to live in that low-rise):
Here are some images I took on a recent visit:
The eastern corner of Ma On Shan Park with the sea in the background (Pic:wikipedia)
A fisherman trying his luck in the Tolo Harbour waters (Pic: Mike Jansen)
Ma On Shan can be reached via the MTR. Take the East Rail-line to Tai Wai MTR and change to the (dark red) Ma On Shan line.
Bakithi Khumalo on ‘You can call me Al’ (Paul Simon’s African Concert)
SOUTH AFRICAN composer, vocalist, and bassist Bakithi Kumalo was born in the Alexandria Township of Johannesburg.
Abandoned by his father as a toddler, he was raised by his mother, who was a singer, and his family in nearby Soweto. He was exposed to local musical styles such as mbaqanga (a groove peculiar to the townships), mbube (a cappella vocal music), and jive (electric, urban pop) while he was very young.
At an early age, he decided to become a musician and at seven, was already performing in his uncle’s band.
Due to his persistence, he quickly became a regular on the wedding and party circuit around the township. At ten, he went on a tour into Zululand where he remained for a year and a half. During that time, he practiced the bass tirelessly. It was at this time that he developed his unique approach to bass playing.
With a reputation as a prodigy now established, Bakithi started to get recording session work, but the record companies were exploitative (he was paid as little as $2.50 per side) and money remained scarce. He did any work he could do to get by, including selling newspapers. As an only child, he felt a profound sense of responsibility towards his mother, but never doubted that he would someday become a famous musician and would be able to take good care of her.
In addition to economic hardships, Bakithi was also dealing with an oppressive political system, Under Apartheid, the police could commit any atrocities they pleased against people of color and never be held accountable. When Bakithi had a recording session in the city proper, he had to carry papers that authorized his presence in town. Without them, he would have risked arrest and detainment.
Bakithi’s fame grew, but his musical career was still a terrible struggle and he was seriously considering taking a job as a car mechanic at the time Paul Simon came calling in 1985.
Simon was in South Africa to assemble a band for his “Graceland” album. A well-known Johannesburg producer suggested Bakithi for his unique ability. Simon was entranced by his sound and, after some preliminary sessions in South Africa, he flew Bakithi to New York City to complete the tracks.
Bakithi was both thrilled and terrified to be in New York City. He had always longed to go to New York, but he barely spoke English and was understandably overwhelmed by this sudden dramatic change in fortune. However, his misgivings did not affect his playing and his indelible contributions to the Grammy-winning “Graceland” album gave him major visibility in the American music industry.
He found himself in much demand for recordings and tours with many great artists such as Chaka Khan, Harry Belafonte, Cyndi Lauper, Laurie Anderson, Jon Secada, and Gloria Estefan.
Today, Bakithi has put down roots in Brooklyn with his wife, singer Robbi Hall, and two children. They went to the new South Africa during 1997, and again in 1998 where Bakithi and Robbi performed at the Capetown Jazz Festival with Regina Carter, Carl Anderson and Donald Harrison. Having been in South Africa as a free man, Bakithi is relieved that his people will never suffer the oppression of apartheid again. The Kumalos are planning to keep a home on both continents.
Howzit-HongKong.com will feature a YouTube clip of one South African music legend every Friday as part of what we like to call The Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions. I am fortunate to be living right next to one of the most stunning working harbours in the world… Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour. I often find myself staring across the Harbour at night, with the lights dimmed and one of my favourite musicians from home over the speakers. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do…
Selaelo Selota was born and grew up in a rural village in the northern region of South Africa near Pietersburg where he was greatly inspired by the traditional musical practices that were around him.
On completing high school, and not having financial resources to further his studies, he found employment in gold mining. Working in the mines and living amongst the migrant workers, he was exposed to the traditional songs and dances from many other Southern African tribal groups. After three years, he left the mines and went to Johannesburg in search of new directions in life.
In Johannesburg he worked at the Market Theatre as an usher and later as a cleaner at Kippies Jazz Club. He seized every opportunity to learn from the musicians he heard performing there. During that year 1988; he bought his first guitar and began studying music theory through FUBA (Federated Union of Black Artists) Academy.
We’re not going to post too much information about this week’s featured artist because we have an extra video to show where you can hear Selota speak to Jason Von Berg. You can read more about Selaelo Selota from our source, Music.org.za
Here is Selota speaking for himself on the Von VodCast:
Howzit-HongKong.com will feature a YouTube clip of one South African music legend every Friday as part of what we like to call The Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions. I am fortunate to be living right next to one of the most stunning working harbours in the world… Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour. I often find myself staring across the Harbour at night, with the lights dimmed and one of my favourite musicians from home over the speakers. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do…
