Chimurenga presents SOCIAL BREATH
In commemoration of the fighting spirit of 16 June 76 we present a once-off performance of SOCIAL BREATH by ASHER GAMEDZE and the BLACK LUNGS, a collective featuring some of Cape Town’s finest improvisers in creative black music, including:
Sean Sanby (bass), Nobuhle Ashanti (keys), Jed Petersen (tenor sax), Tumi Pheko (trumpet), Athi Ngcaba (trombone), Garth Erasmus (alto sax), Tina Mene (vocals), Ru Slayen (percussion) and Asher Gamedze (drums)
Friday, 16 June 2023 from 7pm
Chimurenga Factory (157 Victoria Rd, Woodstock)
R30 at the door
…
breath as a basis of autonomous constitution and motion: in a context of dispossession breath becomes a means of autonomously articulating our own rhythm
…
on the level of the individual
we are literally and physically able to alter the rhythms of our body through breath
slowing ourselves down, speeding ourselves up, calming ourselves down, preparing ourselves for action, preparing ourselves for sleep
independently and for free we have the capacity to articulate our own rhythm, our own movement
autonomy of body’s motion
…
collectively it is both an ontological and a material way of being together
doing something together that brings us together and establishes us as a ‘together’
a group of people collectively doing the most fundamental aspect of life – breathing
in workshops when we have breathed together as a way of entering a space or done some other activity to change our rhythm and establish ourselves collectively I have always felt that conversations and the general orientation to each other is more generous than if not
its as if our journeys up to the place of gathering are all so divergent and we are all bringing our own rhythms, stresses and inertias
the act of breathing together establishes the possibility of constituting a beginning together and a collective rhythm for the gathering that relates all of our motions to each other but de-individualises and socialises them as we breathe together
…
breath has always been a kinda touchpoint for me as a musician
I have always wanted my drum sound to breathe
and by extension, my approach to ensemble sound that I have had a role in contributing to has similarly been very influenced by and oriented towards breath
whether that’s an abstract, symbolic, biological, aesthetic, ontological or sonic sense of inhalation and exhalation, I am not sure
perhaps beyond these categorisations it’s about what it feels like to play together and the reception or the effect of the music on someone listening to it because music the product, music the record surely it doesn’t ‘breathe’? at least in the same way that plants and humans ‘breathe’?
does the music breathe? perhaps this is not so much the question as does the music invoke breath? what kind of breathing does it invoke? and in whom?
…
to sing, breath is a precondition, for which breathable air is, in turn, a precondition
to sing together is to breathe together
to sing together is also to be together
to breathe together is to be together
to breathe together is to be subject to the same atmospheric, which is to say material, conditions
to be together is to share the same material conditions
to breathe together is to engage with and have a bodily response to shared material conditions
our inhalation is imbibing from the same source
the multitude of individual exhalations contributes to the collective product and the collective project
together we breathe
together we move
(Asher Gamedze)
TEACHERLY – a broadcast for Harry Garuba
We celebrate the life and work of our brother, friend and mentor Prof Harry G (1958-2020). We also present “Chants, Dreams and Other Grammars of Love”, a new commemorative book edited by former students and colleagues of Harry, including Remi Raji, Natasha Himmelman, Bongani Kona et al. The book will be on sale at the event and available through our online store.
LIVE ON PASS THIS WEEK
FIELD RECORDINGS Groundings with Shabaka Hutchings on the Mystic Revelation of Rastafari, Sons of Kemet, Ancestors and more. Wednesday, 22 February 2023 – from 6pm Tune in at panafricanspacestation.org.za In preparation for Grounation – a tribute to The Mystic Revelation of Rastafari on 24 Feb. Get your resale tickets via Quicket (qkt.io/EvMmff).
Category: News, Pass Blog, Pass Radio
Tags: Count Ossie & The Mystic Revelation, Shabaka Hutchings
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LIVE ON PASS THIS WEEK
Category: News, Pass Blog, Pass Radio
Tags: Count Ossie & The Mystic Revel, Grounation
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GROUNATION – a tribute to the Mystic Revelation of Rastafari
“Grounation Day” marks the landing of Emperor Selassie I in Jamaica on April 21, 1966. Count Ossie (Oswald Williams), the legendary percussionist and founder of the Mystic Revelation of Rastafari, was among the artists who performed for the Emperor during his historic visit to Jamaica. In his yard called Rockfort at Wareika Hill on the outskirts of Kingston, Count Ossie had been hosting “groundations” (from groundings, the Rasta concept of mutual teachings) featuring musicians, poets and people from all walks …
Chimurenga presents GROUNATION
Chimurenga presents a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the release of Grounation, the seminal album by Count Ossie & the Mystic Revelation of Rastafari with a unique performance of the music of The Mystic Revelation of Rastafari. Shabaka & the Ancestors including Siyabonga Mthembu (vox), Mthunzi Mvubu (alto & flute), Kgethi Nkotsi (trombone), Gontse Makhene (Percussion), Tumi Mogorosi (drums), Ariel Zamonsky (bass) and Shabaka Hutchings (tenor & flutes), will join forces with legendary Cape Town MC, vocalist and bassist …
THE WRITINGS OF BINYAVANGA WAINAINA
We are pleased to announce the launch of How to Write About Africa, a new collection of writings by the late great Kenyan writer Binyavanga Wainaina. Join us for a discussion between Bongani Kona and Achal Prabhala, editor of the collection. Friday, 02 December 2022 from 5:30pm at the Chimurenga Factory (157 Victoria Rd, Woodstock)
The Music Mind of Greg Tate: Sonic Syllabus for a Patternmaster
We were honoured to present a 5-hour music selection in Greg Tate’s memory on his arrival day – 14 October – live on the Pan African Space Station. The music was lovingly selected by DJ Lynnée Denise, Elisa Blount Moorhead, and dream hampton, who collectively spent hours, days, and years processing, listening, describing, and testifying about music with him. The mix is assembled and introduced by DJ Lynnée Denise. DJ Lynnée Denise Greg Tate was a jazz historian, a scholar …
Category: News, Pass Blog, Pass Radio
Tags: DJ Lynnée Denise, dream hampton, Elissa Blount Moorhead, Greg Tate, Lynnée Denise
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LIBERATION MUSIC AT THE CHIMURENGA FACTORY – OCTOBER 2022
We are proud to present two ensemble performances at the Chimurenga Factory this October – Tumi Mogorosi’s Group Theory:Black Music and Malcolm Jiyane’s Tree-O. Group Theory:Black Music is the latest contribution from drummer Tumi Mogorosi. It continues the exploration into South Africa’s longstanding chorale tradition from Mogorosi’s debut album Project Elo. Mogorosi is joined by vocalist Themba Maseko, who directs the voices of Busisiwe Phetoe, Forunate Jwara and Brenda Thulo, as well as Andile Yenana (piano), Reza Khota (guitar), Dalisu …
Category: Liberation Radio, News, Pass Blog
Tags: Group Theory:Black Music, Liberation Radio, Malcolm Jiyane, Tumi Mogorosi, Umdali
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we dreamt of utopia and we woke up screaming (Listening Session #2) – live on PASS – 06 Oct 2022 from 8:30pm
[Sketch by Myriam Pruvot courtesy of archive of Yasmina Reggad] With ‘Listening Session #2’, Yasmina Reggad extends an invitation to historian, researcher and performer Saphia Arezki (Marseille, France) to dive together into her sound archive gathered during the artist’ long-term research we dreamt of utopia and we woke up screaming, that investigates the liberation movements’ broadcasts aired by the Algerian National Broadcasting Company (RTA) in the 60s and 70s. Drawing on her previous polyglot and polyphonic sonic productions that echoed …
Category: Liberation Radio, News, Pass Blog, Pass Radio
Tags: Saphia Arezki, Yasmina Reggad
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