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 Amampondo
was formed in 1980 by Dizu 'Zungulu' Plaatjies, mzwandile Qotoyi and
Simpiwe Matole; and was originally made up of seven young men from the
same neighbourhood in Langa township, outside Cape Town. They were
raised in an environment of traditional dancers and singers, which
meant that they begun to realise the importance of their culture at a
very young age. Amampondo, which means 'the people of Mpondo', the
fabled land of the Xhosa Kingdom in the Eastern Cape was founded with a
strong desire to preserve and protect South African traditional music.
Their goal has always been to carry traditional sounds into the future
rather than see it washed away by the wave of westernisation and the
growing influence of American music amongst the African youth.
Albums:
- Drums For Tomorrow
- Electric Pondoland
- Raw and Undiluted
- Vuyani (Celebrate)
- Africa 2000 Live at Bagleys London (DVD)
- 25 Years Of Skins (DVD)
Twenty
years later Plaatjies, Mzwandile Qotoyi, Mandla Lande, Simpiwe Matole, Xola Mbizela, Michael Ludonga
together with the newer members are still bound by their dedication to
African culture. The journey of this eleven-man percussion ensemble has
been a long one. Starting out on the streets of Cape Town, they busked
to raise cash for more instruments and by 1981 were playing at the
Scratch Club. During the same time they were also working with
ethnomusicologists to study the traditions found in Nigeria, The Ivory
Coast, Uganda, Zimbabwe and the Transkei.
Working with the rhythms, dances and songs of the Xhosa, Zulu, Shangaan and Sotho people,
the group created a pan African sound that soon won them critical
acclaim. In 1983 they travelled to Johannesburg where they played at
the Market Theatre. Here they were reviewed to see if they were
suitable for export as ambassadors of South African music. Planning on
spending two weeks there they stayed six years, given work and
subsequently sent to perform in Israel, Reunion and Taiwan. These
travels however led to some amount of trouble for the band later on.
 In 1988 Amampondo were asked to play at Nelson Mandela's seventieth birthday concert at Wembley.
This spectacular performance established their international reputation
as one of the world's best percussion groups, and seen by millions on
television worldwide was a huge success for the band. All their fees
were donated to the ANC demonstrating their political activism during
this period, but unfortunately on their return the ANC's cultural desk
had banned them from performing either outside or inside South Africa.
They claimed it was a result of them playing in Israel and Taiwan, but
having just played at Mandela's concert the boycott was somewhat
surprising. Unable to perform for four years, the band stayed in Langa
and concentrated upon educational programs in an effort to teach South
African culture in schools. These workshops and the satisfaction gained
from giving something back to society helped keep the band together.
Eventually help arrived with the assistance of Archbishop Desmond Tutu
with whom they had previously recorded an album Give Praise Where
Praise Is Deserved after he won the Nobel peace Prize. He wrote to the
ANC complaining about the boycott, and it was shortly reversed
unleashing Amampondo once more onto the international stage. Carrying
their clearance letter they set off for Germany and France in '92 with
five months grace before the boycott was reinforced ! However by this
time Mandela was about to walk free giving them his blessing. When he
was released he started recommending them for work having seen one of
their videos whilst in prison. He promoted them as ambassadors of South
African music and to this day they remain his favourite band. It was he
who nominated them to represent their country at the opening ceremony
of the Olympic Games held in Atlanta in '96. In 1994 they met with
Robert Trunz, owner of MELT, who became instantly enamoured with their
music. Due to other contractual arrangements he was unable to sign them
until '96, but their debut album for MELT, Drums for Tomorrow (BW096)
was certainly worth the wait. Produced by Cameroonian virtuoso Brice
Wassy this album incorporates the familiar marimbas, drums, chants and
acappella singing as well as adding other African instruments alongside
saxophones and trumpets. It also features guests from around the world
such as Airto Moreira from Brazil and Changuito from Cuba, Emmanuelle
Sejourne from France and Chris Stiefel from Switzerland on keyboard.
Introducing global influences, the spirit of the album remains true to
Africa. Another important step in their career has been their
collaboration with Gabriel ‘Mabi’ Thobejane, who since leaving Sakhile,
has found a new spiritual home with Amampondo. From October through to
the middle of November 1998, the fifteen Amampondo members braved the
Scandinavian winter and toured extensively throughout Sweden, Norway
and Finland, performing and running educational workshops at festivals,
clubs and schools. Hosted by the School of Music at the University of
Gothenburg, their goal was as much to heighten the interest in
traditional African music, as it was to demonstrate the importance of
such music and instruments as tools in the education of music students
and teachers, thus redressing the previous reliance on Eurocentric
music teaching methods in South African schools and worldwide. Whilst
preserving the spirit of tradition, they also want to carry this
forward and make it more accessible to the masses. This is demonstrated
in their collaboration with techno outfit, Juno Reactor whom they met
in 97. Dizu Plaatjies, Simpiwe Matole, Mandla Lande, Michael Ludonga,
and Mabi Thobejane toured with Juno Reactor supporting Moby on a five
week tour of the US bringing the music of their homeland into the
realms of contemporary dance music. Clad in body paint and full costume
Amampondo wowed the crowds with their acrobatics whilst beating out
their percussive rhythms alongside Ben Watkins' techno and guitar
riffs. They have since collaborated on Shango (ELM8033), Juno’s new
album and are touring the album internationally. In October 2000 six
members of the band performed with the great British jazz saxophonist,
Alan Skidmore, around Great Britain and Berlin. Simpiwe, Mandla,
Michael, Blackie, Mzwandile and Alan continued their creative
collaboration that begun in 99 when they guested on Skidmore’s album
‘The Call’, released on Provocateur Records. In addition to this Dizu
and Mzwalinde Qotoyi also work together as DZM Projects, which is
dedicated to recording and advancing the cause of traditional South
African music. They featured on the bootleg.net release, Ethno Trance
Live (BNET002) and have recently worked on an album from Madosini.
Educating people about the importance of preserving their heritage,
Dizu also teaches African instruments and dance at the University of
Cape Town’s College of Music. “We believe that music is a unifying
force and our task is to unite people and encourage them to appreciate
Africa” explains Dizu, “We started Amampondo because of the lack of
African music in our country. The kids are now influenced musically by
America and we need to change that.” Having travelled the world
transporting their music to over thirty countries on every continent,
their dynamic display traverses cultural and historical boundaries and
has made them the popular percussion ensemble that they are today. The
closing of the millennium marked a milestone in the life of Amampondo,
celebrated in the release of ‘Vuyani’(BW2143) in October 2000.
Completed at the end of 99, ‘Vuyani’ is a celebration of twenty years
of music making in the life of this exceptional group. The album
includes some of the band’s favourite past tracks revamped and
performed in different ways with some superb new tunes as well, and is
guaranteed to carry you through Africa to the heart of the motherland,
lifting spirits and awakening the dancer within everyone. ‘Vuyani’ not
only celebrates the coming of age of the group, but also the immense
talents of Simpiwe Matole, as a multi-instrumentalist and fine producer
of the new album. The current members of Amampondo are: 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
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