Monday, July 18, 2016

Out of the Jurisdiction: Johnny Clegg

We went to a Johnny Clegg concert.  Clegg is a longtime revered South African songwriter and musician whose music is based on Zulu and Celtic influences.  His early bands featured 
white and black musicians singing songs with coded anti-apartheid messages.  
Clegg's performances often feature his energetic foot-stomping Zulu-based dances.


In the song shown above, Clegg is backed by the award-winning Soweto Gospel Choir.
One of Clegg's best known songs is Asimbonanga, a 1987 protest song dedicated to Nelson Mandela,
who came onstage and danced to it in 1999 when he was South African President.  After Mandela's death in 2013, Clegg re-recorded it.  Today is Nelson Mandela Day in South Africa. 

10 comments:

  1. Thanks for the link, Jack! Loved the music and the faces of all those beautiful children. Musical performances in SA are outstanding, and, oh, how I wish I had been there. Photos are terrific and capture the atmosphere.

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  2. Looks like a great performance. I liked listening to the video, never heard it before.

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  3. Blimey, thinks I, Johnny Clegg? Is he still around? However old is he these days? It turns out that he's just four days older than I am!

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  4. Oh wow, this must have been colorful and energizing!

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  5. That must have been a pleasure to see!

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  6. Looks like a great concert, and a perfect post for Nelson Mandela Day.

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  7. i bet that was fun! looks so colorful!

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  8. Looks great, Jack! I'm off to check out your link.

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  9. Zulu and Celtic? That's new to me. It looks and sounds like a fabulous performance.

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