In a ‘previous life‘ I used to run some recreation centres in Cape Town.
One of our services extended to the aged, which means we had to collect old folks from around our service areas, transport them to a recreation centre and keep them busy for the day. Some of the activities included skills such as embroidering, painting, etc.
After the day’s events, they’d be duly carted back to their homes.
Here’s in Hong Kong, however, I find that the aged are so much more active.
These are some of the activities I encounter on my way to work every day here in Hung Hom (the footage is from nearby Whampoa Garden):
Cape jazz is a genre of jazz, similar to the popular music style known as marabi, though more improvisational in character, which is performed in the southern part of Africa. Where marabi is a piano jazz style, in the beginning this music grew (though not exclusively) from instruments that can be carried in a street parade, such as brass instruments, banjos, guitars and percussion instruments.
The Cape part of the name, refers to Cape Town, South Africa. The leading exponents of this style are pianist Abdullah Ibrahim and saxophonists the late Basil Coetzee and Robbie Jansen. These three, together with bassist Paul Michaels, drummer the late Monty Weber and sax man Morris Goldberg, recorded the seminal Cape Jazz song, “Mannenberg” in the early 1970s.
One of the main inspirations behind Cape Jazz comes from the folk songs sung by people descended from the former slave communities living in the Western Cape, known loosely as the Cape Coloured or Cape Malay people.
A street carnival parade or Mardi Gras (also called the Coon Carnival) is held each year peaking on the 2nd of January. This event is the culmination of months of musical and dance rehearsal and community-based competitions, by various mostly mix race folk, and was known as Tweede Nuwe Jaar (Afrikaans). The performers known as Klopse, borrowed the painted faces and bright consumes of the minstrel show style of New Orleans (now USA) and combined this with African and European music which was to be heard in the taverns and night clubs of the port city.
Some of this music is also more recently known as Goema, or Ghoema Jazz, referring to a particular wooden barrel shaped Asian style drum (also known in the Cape as a Ghomma) played by the revelers in the troupes in the aforementioned parade.
During Howzit-HongKong.com’s visit home in 2009, we were fortunate to attend the 60th birthday party of the late Cape Town saxophonist Robbie Jansen at the G-Spot venue in Epping (Cape Town). In conversation with the great man that evening, we arranged to return this year to record his take on the Cape Jazz story. Sadly, that will not happen as Robbie passed away late in 2010.
The Jansens: Robbie and Michael at the G-spot in 2009 (Pic: Mike Jansen)
Here are some of the pictures we took:
We are going to be referring the the terms “Cape Jazz” as well as “Ghoema” over the next few weeks, so without any further ado…. here’s that seminal Cape Town anthem:
The Victoria Harbour Sundowner sessions #22: Mannenberg
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…
Fujian (Chinese: 福建) is one of the provinces on the southeast coast of mainland China.
Fujian, also known as Fukien, borders Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Taiwan lies to the east, across the Taiwan Straits.
The name Fujian comes from the combination of Fuzhou and Jian’ou, two cities in Fujian. The name was coined during Tang Dynasty.
A rice is the main crop of the region, it is no wonder that he Fujian Province is also known for it’s “old wine” or Fukien Old Wine.
This is the picture that has been doing the rounds on the social networks of late:
China has the “oldest” wine in the world: F*kken old wine!
