photo by: neo muyanga

Neo captured PASS rug-rats jumping, crawling and doing their rug-rat thing in the studio the morning after the launch. They didn’t need to be told what to do in the space, with every adult outside enjoying a second breakfast they tore up the joint, filling it with laughter and tumbles from bean bags and couches. Last night DJ Mighty had to bow to his own Yogi, a kid I hear cries when his dad plays a song he doesn’t dig.

Great, seeing as how I’ve set it up here’s what I really want to say- the kids have it down pat. When they rock up they do their thing, they don’t wait for cues, no surveying of the space or the people who occupy it. Baby cadets know what time it is, what feels good to them on a gut level is what they put out. Simple.

Older cadets, well that’s another story. We had a visit from a sister calling to see the studio, she’s planning something- emphasis on something here- and just wanted to know what she had to work with. Great, we show her around and when she looks at the stage she half nods and half shakes her head.

“I guess it’ll do,” she says with a sweet smile.

I ask what she wants to do and get a “Oh, I don’t know just yet. I’ll try and see what I can do.

The stage ‘will have to do’ for a programme that hasn’t been planned yet. Ok.

I could just shrug it off and say whatever, its her gig. She’s chatty so I decide to keep her talking to satisfy the convo-ho in me. There’s a range of interests here, poetry, drama performance, music- I ask if she’s thought of a way to bring them together. Sort of, is the answer.

Here is a space that shouts, “PLAY, go where your imagination takes you” and ‘sort of’ is all one can come up with. I’m tempted (temptation is always a beat behind me) to start a whole sermon on how the stage as it were is not as important as the content, or that the folk in the studio don’t make up even a tenth of the listenership but I’ve already been punished for my Jehova’s Witness ways.

Having been blocked off Facebook earlier this morning, yes I’ve been labeled a cyber nuisance; I’ll leave the last word to the audio dramatist who quips, “There’s no gravity in space”

photo by: pam It’s at his stokvel that Kolade first plays Adenah Teka, the story as he tells it is that Adenah is known to play in local ‘shebeens’ or pubs and throughout the song makes references to Bob and goes on to call on actors, footballers and eventually more musicians. I think there was a moment where he called Kenny Rogers? I can’t laugh at Adenah I am after all the little girl known for crooning “oooh mah booo …  ( continue reading

Tune in Thursday 17:00 for Ms Gods Poetric Session. For now, lisan to 4Hero and sister Ursula Rucker.  ( continue reading

photo by: gregory franz “I’d usually start the night off, and play anything from reggae to Caribbean and jazz music,” Williams said. “Sometimes I stopped people dead in their tracks; they would just be looking at me. I would play Fela Kuti or some other Afrobeat artist. Some people would still move to the music, but (most) were more into anthems than obscurities; I’ve always been into obscurities. There’s so much music out there.” http://www.canada.com/cityguides/montreal/story.html?id=9bb8219b-3e95-4ad6-aa98-3fafa94ccc3c&k=26355  ( continue reading

 ( continue reading

I’m in black and white, standard SA school uniform colors of years past and it seems my wardrobe choices for the day are on the money, I’m in an alternative classroom and the gentlemen playing teacher are Kolade and Andy. Class commenced when Kolade played ‘guitar buy’ going back to Fela’s band boy days. When he mentions this I stare him down thinking he’s going to laugh at his own joke but Kolade’s serious. The giant I have in my …  ( continue reading

Its three thirty five, the PASS launch crowd is performing a ZCC stomp and the floor is threatening to cave in. I am fast begining to suspect that people have organised themselves replacements because as soon as one group moves out another equally energetic bunch takes their place… Hearing the on line broadcast on my headsets converts the scene around me into binary code, the energy of the live event has orbed from CT to… The magic of the moment …  ( continue reading