African music and the Cuban sensibility

Pedro de la Hoz

JOHANNESBURG.—Apart from a few and sporadic exceptions, little is known in Cuba about the formidable contemporary African arts movement, a disturbing paradox bearing in mind the fluid and identifying links between our peoples’ cultures.

Attending the musical events which accompanied the 1st Global African Diaspora Summit, I recalled some isolated episodes which illustrate the closeness of the Cuban sensibility to visible demonstrations of the artistic hierarchies of this continent.

Miriam Makeba, the great diva of South African song, seduced us with her "Pata pata"; in the time of our combative solidarity with the people of Angola some songs from that country became popular in Cuba; and, more recently, the combination of Cuban Eliades Ochoa and musicians from Mali and the Congo toured the world, as was the case on a lesser scale in past decades with Orquesta Aragón, in collaboration with Papá Wemba and other singers.

In recent years, the Cubadisco International Prize has distinguished recordings of significant exponents of African song; and devotion to the exceptional figure of Cesaria Evora from Cape Verde has not been lacking.

In a quixotic undertaking, Guille Vilar has been sustaining the presence of African musicians on his television program "Música del mundo" (World Music).

All this has a bearing because of the question that we asked ourselves when, in the Sandton Convention Center theater, we were overwhelmed by the sonoric value of music from South Africa and Mali. How much would Cuban music lovers gain if they heard on the radio and saw on TV, with merited frequency, the magnificent contributions of Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Hugh Masekela, Sibongile Khumalo and Salif Keita?

From Chaka Chaka we had the reference of her fleeting presence on the cultural program of the FIFA World Cup. Miriam Makeba said of her, "She is my daughter!" She was born in Soweto and was 11 years of age when the popular uprising, criminally repressed by the police forces of apartheid, took place. The combination of a resounding rhythm and melodies surpassing the usual parameters of pop sustain her musical projection. They call her the Princess of Africa and her songs "Umbongothi", "I cry for freedom" and "Motherland," are part of the cultural imagery of various countries in the region.

At 73 years of age, Hugh Ramapolo Masekela qualifies as the jazz icon par excellence of Sub-Saharan Africa. Trumpet player, composer and singer, he matured artistically starting in 1961, when he settled in the United States. There, his song "Grazing in the Grass" became one of the most popular on the U.S. scene in 1968. His fame grew when he took part in the Paul Simon’s Graceland world tour and he made the world his with the call launched in 1987 demanding the release of Nelson Mandela, in the song "Bring Him Back Home,".

When Cuban audiences have an opportunity to hear Sibongile Khumalo, they will note the splendid maturity of an all-terrain singer, who moves from blues and scat to popular South African traditional songs, passing through opera and classical music. She sang Bizet’s Carmen and the great Yehudi Menuhin signed her up in 1995 as a soloist for Handel’s Messiah.

Every Salif Keita album is an event in Africa and Europe. He was born in Mali into a family which was part of the national nobility, but had to fight against the stigma of being albino, believed to be a bad omen. His talent saved him. He fused the traditions of the griots (jongleurs) and Western pop/rock with supreme originality. And he rose like a legend after Joe Zawinul brought him into Weather Report in 1989.