South Africa is an amazing country packed
with great stories and characters.
Madala, called the King of the Zulu
Guitar, is one of these characters that
make this country what it is. The rich tapestry
of Madala's life is reflected in his
music. Eclectic as only someone from
Durban can be.
Kunene was born in 1951 in Mkhumbane
(Cato Manor), a vibrant mixed community
just outside of inner Durban. At the age of eight, in the year 1959, Kunene and some members
of his extended family were trucked off
by the Apartheid government to go live
in the then relatively new township of
KwaMashu.
"People can't imagine what it's like
when you see bulldozers demolish your
home in the middle of the night," recalls
Kunene. "The worst thing was that
when they moved us, they came at night
and packed my family into the back of a
truck and then went to another area to
pick up another family there and so on.
So you were not just separated from your
home, you were stripped of your friends
and neighbours in the process. It was a
very calculated act," Kunene adds.
As a meditation on his history Kunene
now releases his latest album 1959. It explores dense and often often melancholic subject matter, especially Kunene's own history as a victim of
forced removal. "I've never spoken about
those experiences in my music in an earnest
way. I wanted to recall them and
most importantly make a personal album
that was looking internally at my personal
history rather than looking out," says Kunene.
1959 is a blues album with slightly
more muscle—a personal catharsis and
an attempt to exercise the muscle of memory
through music. Insistent and unrelenting,
1959 is Kunene's urban war cry.
It is a portrait of the artist as a not-so young
man of faith, a sonic investigation
that tries to make sense of the gradual
process of sanitizing history—how the
real past is purged for the sake of a historical
sound bite.
The album "1959" was co-produced
and engineered by Marius Botha and
Neil Snyman. It started out as a simple
acoustic guitar and voice project but as
soon as Madala's many friends learned
that he was busy recording in his own
backyard things took on a life of their
own. An outpouring of love for Bafo followed
with everyone wanting to bring
his or her love for Bafo to this project.
Madala gratefully acknowledges the
many appearances of friends amongst
others Lu Dlamini, Bra Hugh Masekela,
Sthembiso Hlela, Max Lässer, Vishen
Kemraj, Sazi Dlamini, Steve Newman,
Guy Buttery, Bernard Mndaweni, Paki
Peloeole, Eric Duma, Sihlanga Zulu,
Mdu Magawaza, Njeza Dlamini, Zamo
Mbutho, Sipho Nxumalo and Smanga
Ngubane.