Amampondo

Amampondo

Amampondo is a South African percussion ensemble which was started by Dizu Plaatjies in Langa Cape Town in 1978. The other founding members were Simpiwe Matole; Michael Ludonga; Mzwandile Qotoyi; Leo Mbizela and Mandla Lande.

The group began as buskers on the streets of Cape Town. Under the guidance of their first manager, Bruce Gordon, they made their first recordings. They later joined up with the owner of the Clarement Records label, Donald Graham who guided and advised them through the release of the next 2 albums.

They recorded an album entitled "Give Praise Where Praise Is Deserved" with Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and in 1988 Amampondo were asked to play at Nelson Mandela's seventieth birthday concert at Wembley. This is fitting because, like Mandela, Amampondo are part of the Xhosa-speaking tribes of South Africa. Upon his release from prison, Nelson Mandela promoted them as ambassadors of South African music, and later nominated them to represent their country at the opening ceremony of the 1996 Olympic Games.

Amampondo has entertained audiences with their broad spectrum of African traditional and contemporary compositions . They have taught and played the world over, from Israel to Japan, from Scandinavia to the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.Fact|date=February 2007

The group continue to perform but without their former leader Dizu Plaatjies, who has started his own project entitled "Ibuyambo".

Current line-up (as of 2006)

*Simpiwe Matole - Soprano marimba, vocals, dance/acrobatics
*Mzwandile Qotoyi - Bass & piccolo marimba, African drums, percussion, vocals, and dance
*Michael 'Nkululeku' Ludonga - African drums, tenor marimba, vocals, dance
*Mandla Lande - African drums, percussion (djembe/congas), vocals, dance/acrobatics
*Blackie Zandisile Mbizela - Bass marimba, percussion, vocals, dance
*Nondzondelelo Fancy Galada - Lead and backing vocals, percussion, dance
*Mantombi Matotiyane - Lead and backing vocals, umrhumbhe, isitolotolo and dance
*Dave Mxolise Mayekana

Partial discography

*"Khawukhangele" - 1982
*"Heartbeat of Africa 'Uyandibiza"' - Mountclare Productions - 1983
*"The Pulse of Africa" - Mountclare Productions - 1989
*"An Image of Africa" - Mountain Records AM242 - 1992
*"Intsholo" - Mountain Records AM282 - 1996
*"Inyama" - Mountain Records AM302 - 1997
*"Drums For Tomorrow" - MELT 2000 BW096 - 1998
*"Vuyani" - MELT 2000 BW 2143 - 2000
*"An Image of Africa - Live in Cape Town" - Mountain Records DVD AM 4546 - 2007

Collaborations

*"Give Praise Where Praise Is Deserved" with Archbishop Desmond Tutu
*"Shango" - Juno Reactor - Electric Melt ELM8033 - 2000
*"The Call" - Alan Skidmore - Provocateur Records - PVC 1081 - 2001
*"Ubizo" - Alan Skidmore - Provocateur Records - PVC 1036 - 2003

References

* [http://www.melt2000.com/content/artist/a_amampondo_m.html MELT: Amampondo (2005) - 25 years of experiencing the energy and beauty of acoustic dance music.]

External links

* [http://www.amampondo.com/ Official site]

* [http://www.mountain-africa.com Mountain and Mountclare CDs sales site]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Juno Reactor — Infobox Musical artist Name = Juno Reactor Img capt = Img size = Landscape = Background = group or band Alias = Origin = London, United Kingdom Genre = Electronic, Trance, Goa Trance Years active = 1990–present Label = Metropolis, NovaMute, Inter …   Wikipedia

  • Mountain Records — is a record label started in Cape Town, South Africa in 1980 by Patrick Lee Thorp. The record label produces mostly South African music and is known as the home of Cape Jazz recordings, having issued a number of albums by such names as Basil… …   Wikipedia

  • Alan Skidmore — Infobox musical artist Name = Alan Skidmore Background = non vocal instrumentalist Birth name = Alan Richard James Skidmore Alias = Born = birth date and age|1942|4|21 London, England Died = Instrument = Tenor saxophone, Genre = Jazz Occupation …   Wikipedia

  • List of South African musicians — #*12hz, Afrikaans pop group, ( [http://www.12hz.co.za/ Official Site] ) *12th Avenue, rock band from Cape Town ( [http://www.12thavenueband.com/ Official Site] ) *14 Flaws *16 Stitch *2Flye, ( [http://www.2flye.com/ Official Site] ) (empty as of… …   Wikipedia

  • Xhosa clan names — (isiduko (sing.), iziduko (pl.) in Xhosa) are family names which are considered more important than surnames. Much like the clan system of Scotland, each Xhosa person can trace their family history back to a specific male ancestor or stock.… …   Wikipedia

  • Dizu Plaatjies — is the founder and former leader of the South African group, Amampondo. He is a graduate of the University of Cape Town School of Music and now lectures there in African Music. Since leaving Amampondo he has started a new ensemble called Ibuyambo …   Wikipedia

  • Alan Skidmore — (* 21. April 1942 in London) ist ein englischer Tenor und Sopransaxophonist. Der Sohn des Jazzsaxophonisten Jimmy Skidmore erhielt seine musikalische Ausbildung am Konservatorium in London. Mitte der 1960er Jahre spielte er zunächst in Bluesrock… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • World music — The term world music includes * Traditional music (sometimes called folk music or roots music) of any culture that are created and played by indigenous musicians or that are closely informed or guided by indigenous music of the regions of their… …   Wikipedia

  • Xhosa — Infobox Ethnic group group = Xhosa caption = Notable Xhosa: Nelson Mandela, Miriam Makeba, Thabo Mbeki, Desmond Tutu poptime = 7.9 million (2001 estimate) popplace = Eastern Cape: 5.4 million Western Cape: 1.1 million Gauteng: 0.7 million Free… …   Wikipedia

  • Music of South Africa — South Africa This article is part of the series: Culture of South Africa Art Cinema Cuisine Languages Literature List of writers List of poets …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”