The Influence Of Black American Jubilee Singers & Black American Minstrel Singers On South Africa's Isicathamiya Music

Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest revision - March 8, 2024 [new title]

This pancocojams post presents information about Black American Jubilee singing and Black American minstrel singers on South Africa's isicathamiya music.

In addition, this post showcases two videos of isicathamiya music.

The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to African Americans and South Africans for this musical legacy. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to those groups that are featured in these videos. Thanks also to the publishers of these university papers and these YouTube videos.

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INFORMATION ABOUT BLACK AMERICAN JUBILEE SINGING
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubilee_quartet
"Jubilee quartets were popular African-American religious musical groups in the first half of the 20th century. The name derives from the Fisk Jubilee Singers, a group of singers organized by George L. White at Fisk University in 1871 to sing Negro spirituals. The members of the original Fisk Jubilee Quartet (1909-1916) were Alfred G. King (first bass), James A. Myers (second tenor), Noah W. Ryder (second bass), and John W. Work II (first tenor).[1] Students at other historically black schools, such as Hampton Institute, Tuskegee Institute and Wilberforce University, followed suit.

The early jubilee quartets featured close harmonies, formal arrangements and a "flatfooted" style of singing that emphasized restrained musical expression and technique derived from Western musical traditions. Early quartets reinforced their respectable image by adopting uniforms that a university glee club might wear and discouraging improvisation.

In time, however, the popularity of the jubilee style spread from the universities to black churches, where quartets, singing before audiences with a tradition of enthusiastic response, began to absorb much of the energy and freedom of Gospel music coming out of Holiness churches. Groups such as the Golden Gate Quartet—originally named the Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet—infused their performances of spirituals with the rhythmic beat of blues and jazz and gradually began including gospel standards written by Thomas A. Dorsey and others in their repertoire. The Gates and other jubilee quartets gained nationwide popularity through radio broadcasts, records and touring in the 1930s and 1940s.

Other groups, such as the Dixie Hummingbirds and the Original Five Blind Boys of Alabama (formally known as the Happyland Jubilee Singers) that had begun singing in the conventional jubilee style went further, creating the more improvisational and fervent style of quartet singing known as "hard Gospel". That new style largely eclipsed jubilee singing by the 1950s."...

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TWO VIDEO EXAMPLES OF ISICATHAMIYA MUSIC
Video #1: Amazing Zulu ISICATHAMIYA choirs



VIVIDPRO, Published on Feb 27, 2009

Zulu Isicathamiya choirs
-snip-
Here are three comments from this video's discussion thread
Peter Gibbs, 2013
"I had a chance to see one of these competitions in Durban... it lasted all night and included a fashion show. I think I sitll have some of it filmed, but I had the sense during my time in Durban that the culture (especially the musical culture) was on the verge of being swalled up by modernity... I heard some of the older kids sing in one of the schools there as well. You just can't not smile. :)"

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REPLY
VIVIDPRO, 2013
"Hey Peter, Thanks for the comment. Yeah! thats why I did this video, unfortunately this cappella style of singing is quietly dis-intergrating with all the Kwaito, Afro beat and House taking over in the dance halls but at least at this stage, there is still a national competition held once a year where these back room basement choirs gather for competition to prove who the best choir is.....going to try to film that this year." 

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John Jones, 2018
"I used to be a judge Sat nights YMCA's and hostels all over Dbn and Pmb. I got bundled ( in a nice but firm way ) into a Valiant one night and taken somewhere. Can't remember where as it was my first time.Competition lasted all night into the early hours of Sunday. With time for a dressing competition. I was 'tested' on my first night because I was offered a bribe in the toilets. I refused and became a sought after judge. The handlers got to know where I lived and used to come and pick me up. The funny thing was I knew nothing about dressing ( still dont lol ) and nothing about music in general let alone Isicathamiya. My 'judgements' were never questioned which was nice."

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Video #2: Ladysmith Black Mambazo - Homeless Live



LadysmthBlackMambazo, Published on Jan 13, 2011

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EXCERPT #1:
From https://www.coursehero.com/file/p1366g1/Virginia-Jubilee-Singers-an-African-American-minstrel-troupe-toured-South/
Introduction to World Music-...
Course: MUSIC 009
School: Pennsylvania State University
..."Virginia Jubilee Singers, an African-American minstrel troupe, toured South Africa in 1890, performing in concert halls for white South Africans and in churches and community halls for black South Africans. While on tour the Virginia Jubilee Singers sang spirituals such as "Steal Away" and "The Gospel Train" along with traditional minstrel songs such as "The Old Folks at Home" and "Old Black Joe." Both white and black South Africans were extremely impressed with the American minstrel performances, but the music, particularly the spirituals, appealed especially to the black South African people, who could relate to the longing for freedom and justice communicated in the songs. Soon black South Africans began forming their own minstrel troupes. The music of the minstrel troupes was typically a four-part singing style. Gradually the South African minstrel music, known as isikhunzi (lit. "coon" style), incorporated more traditional South African dances and songs.

Urban music
During the 1870s and 1880s many rural South Africans migrated to the cities to work in the mines and factories. In the cities formerly-rural South Africans were exposed to many urban musical styles, particularly ragtime, ragtime dancing, and jazz. Thus urban styles (e.g., ragtime, and American jazz styles) had an influence on traditional South African music, including isicathamiya. The four musical traditions described above came together to create isicathamiya, and in the early years they also provided the repertoire for isicathamiya performers. The typical sound of isicathamiya or mbube is a cappella male voices. (There are some female isicathamiya groups, but traditionally this is a men's genre.) The music is typically in four-part harmony, which is Western-influenced, with most voice parts singing repeating ostinato patterns. There is an emphasis on the lowest voice, which is characteristic of traditional Nguni polyphony, with a heavy doubling of the bass part. And a soloist sings the top voice, usually in a more improvisatory manner and sometimes in a falsetto voice (a man's high register, far above the normal male range). Isicathamiya favors a call and response form, in which the voices overlap. No two voices begin or end their phrases at the same time, creating an overlapping effect. Another distinguishing feature is the use of glissando, as heard in traditional Nguni music. (You can see how much the other musical genres influenced this genre.) The texts, usually in Zulu or another South African language, often address real-life experiences, sometimes criticizing or protesting current events.

Listening Exercise
Isicathamiya arose around 1915 in Durban, with groups like The Crocodiles and The Durban Evening Birds, and spread quickly to other cities. By the 1930s it had become very popular throughout all of South Africa. The group that truly defined the isicathamiya sound was Solomon Linda and the Evening Birds, who came into the spotlight in the 1930s.”...

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EXCERPT #2:
Pancocojams Editor's Note: I amended the spelling of the "n word" that is given in this article.  The page number are given at the bottom of each page.

From https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/39666757.pdf
University ol the Witwatersrand
1 Jan Smuts Avenue
Johannesburg 2001
THE MAKING OF CLASS
9-1 4 February, 1987
AUTHOR: V. Erlmann
TITLE: "Singing Brings Joy To The Distressed"
The Social History Of Zulu Migrant Workers'
Choral Comnetions
..."Ethnomusicological studies have as yet to come to terms with the profound changes African societies have been undergoing as a result of massive industrialization, labor migration and urbanization. Although, parallel to early studies of African labor, the prevailing paradigm in ethnomusicological studies of African music continues to be detribalization, more recent studies of "town music" in Africa stress the continuity of traditional rural musical expression in a changed environment. Traditional music is no longer seen as irreconcilable with urban life, but as a major agent of adaptation to new forms of social organization (Kaemmer 1977). Labor migration as a major factor of urbanization seems to be one of the central mechanisms that directs the transformation of traditional performance practices in the urban socio-economic environment. However, few studies (Koetting 1979-80) have effectively examined the relationship between labor migration and musical performance, and even fewer studies (Coplan 1982, 1985, Collins and Richards 1982) have addressed the complex theoretical problems posed by new emerging forms of .urban and popular music in Africa in categories other than "acculturation", "detribalization", or their derivatives.

This paper is an attempt to redress the balance by offering an examination of the social history of a genre of Zulu choral music called isicathamiya. Closely linked with almost a century of industrialization and urbanization in the oldest and most advanced political economy of the continent, this all male vocal tradition

[page 1]

is still alive and popular with Zulu migrant workers in the industrial centers of Johannesburg and Durban. Weekly all night competitions that involve as many as 30 choirs, form the vital artery of isicathamiya music. These events are referred to by the English term "competition", a term most performers prefer to the slightly derogatory term ingoma ebusuku (night song). Recently, the Durban based vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo introduced this vibrant and long-lived urban musical tradition to international audiences. Although the history of isicathamiya is well documented on commercial recordings and radio transcripts, with the exception of three brief studies (Larlham 1981, Rycroft 1957, Sithole 1979) it has not attracted the attention of ethnomusicologists.
[page 2]

[...]

"2. THE HISTORY OF ISICATHAMIYA: STYLE AND CONTEXT

In October 1956, the following article appeared in the Zulu newspaper Ilanga Lase Natal:
The history of the jazbaatjie singers dates back to 1890. It becomes clearer after 1925 and usable after 1939. The legendary Champions were led by Mabhulukwana Mbatha of Baumannville. There are hundreds of them in Durban alone. There are the Crocodiles of Enoch Mzobe, the Home Tigers of Samson Ntcmbela, the Five Roses of Aaron Ntcmbela...to name but a few. The jazbaatjie musicians have their own mannerisms. Educationally they are generally literate only in their own language. They.dress well and are simple in style. They believe in the principle "as loud as your voice can take it " when singing. Each member of a group almost tries to sing louder than his comrades. The audience are in most cases men. The few women you see now and then, are admirers of certain individual singers. The jazbaatjies, as they are commonly known, love to compete among one another and the popular trophy in Natal is a nice live goat for the winners, 5 for the second prize and 2/10 for the third. Their adjudicators are usually picked at random in the street so that they may not know or have any special interest in any individual group. If they are Africans, they stand a good chance of being beaten up should their verdict be queried. Attempts to bribe adjudicators are often made by some competitors. The competitors pay as much as 2 or more in order to enter a contest and there is a lot of money being made by organizers of such contests. The money comes from the musicians themselves and the spectators are entertained almost free of charge.

The jazbaatjie concerts are an attraction for the semi-literate. The music has grown so popular among Whites that it has been mistaken for pure Zulu traditional music. The "step" of the jazbaatjies remains unequaled in its uniqueness, while their beautiful compositions remained original and simple.

Although the term jazbaatjies has become somewhat obsolete , present day competitions in the single sex hostels near the Durban airport and oil refineries, or on the southern fringes of downtown Johannesburg do not differ substantiall y from the one the Ilanga correspondent witnessed in the 1950s. Apart from the "mannerisms" in stage behavior and dress, a modern observe r would most probably be astonished by the diversity of musical styles represented. Although generally recognized as one of the most advanced forms of Zulu musical expression , isicathamiya reflects a rich mixture of Western, Afro-American, traditional

[page 4]
and modern stylistic sources. American revival hymns, Zulu traditional wedding songs, rock and roll, yodeling a la Jimmie Rodgers - to name but a few, are all part of the choral repertoire. They are the product of intensive experimentation by several generations of migrant workers with the most advanced and popular urban styles available to them. Reflecting upon the experience and struggles of generations of migrant workers, isicathamiya performers molded these diverse idioms into a unique expression of Zulu working class identity. The evidence available on vintage records, in present-day performance styles as well as in performers' oral testimony indicates that the first isicathamiya performers drew on a complex mix of both traditional and modern styles that were themselves the products of long processes of urbanization, rural-urban interaction and labor migration; processes much older in any case than the 1890s. What the Ilanga critic did however realize correctly, is the fact that performance styles do not simply spring up out of nowhere. The historian searching for the origins of syncretic African performance styles in South Africa in particular, often finds himself confronted with the musical residues of the early phases of European colonization.

The "pre history" of isicathamiya starts in the second half of the 19th century when American minstrel shows had become by far the most popular form of stage entertainment in the urban centers. Although a Durban based group, the Ethiopian Serenaders, performed minstrel acts as early as 1858, it was only until 1862 that the world famous Christy Minstrels toured South Africa, followed by other illustrious troupes and a plethora of local companies.

Despite the crude caricatures of Blacks in minstrel shows, the repertoire, performance style and musical instruments of the minstrel stage were enthusiastically received by the growing black urban population of the late 19th century. As early as 1880, at least one black minstrel troupe, the Kafir Christy Minstrels, was operating in Durban, which the Durban newspaper Natal Mercury paternalistically described as "a troupe of eight genuine natives, bones and all, complete who really get through their songs very well."

For black audiences, however, no visiting minstrel troupe created a deeper impression than Orpheus McAdoo's Minstrel, Vaudeville and Concert Company. Between 1890 and 1898, McAdoo, one of the first Afro-Americans of note to visit South Africa, made two phenomenally successful tours of the country that lasted more than five years, and visited Durban and Natal no less than six times. Black audiences praised McAdoo as their "music hero", and at least two choirs, the South African Choir and the Zulu Choir, were formed in imitation of McAdoo's company. McAdoo's visits became so deeply ingrained in popular consciousness as a turning point in black musical history in South Africa that the Ilanga critic saw the history of isicathamiya beginning in 1890, and

[page 5]

that Thembinkosi Pewa, member of the legendary Evening Birds under Solomon Linda declared: "Our oldest brothers, the first to sing isicathamiya, were the Jubilee Brothers. That was in 1891." (Interview Pewa) By the turn of the century, minstrelsy had reached even remote rural areas with a fairly intact traditional performance culture. Mission school graduates formed minstrel troupes modeled on either McAdoo's company or on the numerous white blackface troupes, and adopted names such as AmaNigel Coons, Pirate Coons, Brave Natalian Coons, or Yellow Coons. As late as 1918, scenes like the following, reported from Umzumbe rural mission night school in Natal, were not uncommon:

One of the items was a march across the platform of all the urchins with a bone clapper, at the head of the line...and to the astonishment of all, one of the most heathenish boys stood up and sang "TiRerary", keeping time to his singing by the twirling of an invisible mustache. By at least the 1930s, traditional weddings songs, one of the stylistic sources of isicathamiya became known as boloha or umboloho.

Doke and Vilakazi found the term to be etymologically related to Xhosa or Afrikaans for "polka" and defined it as a "dance with boots on (as on farms on festive occasions, N--ger* minstrels, etc.)" and as a "rough concert or night carnival party" (Doke, Vilakazi 1948:43). As late as 1934, Percival Kirby was able to document the widespread use of bone clappers called amathambo among rural Zulu (Kirby 1968:10-11), and octogenarian Eva Mbambo, member of the renowned Ohhlange Choir, recalls performing on the bones as late as 1928. Among the most influential troupes that popularized "coon", ragtime songs and other minstrel material throughout South Africa, was the Ohlange Choir of Ohlange Institute near Durban, founded by African National Congress president John Dube. The choir was led by Reuben T.Caluza, South Africa's most popular and innovative composer between World War I and the early 1930s. Mission educated performers such as Caluza were responsible for the emergence of precursor styles of isicathamiya, in bridging between elements of American minstrelsy and ragtime songs suited to predominantly urban tastes, and semi-traditional styles. Taking the Ohlange Choir on annual fund raising tours of the Transvaal mining towns and compounds, Caluza brought migrant workers in touch with the most polished forms of dance and topical song of the time. "In the compounds," choir member Selina Kuzwayo recalls, Caluza's show attracted "bigger crowds than anywhere." (Interview Kuzwayo) Not only were compound residents impressed by Caluza's skillful combination of dance, action, and topical lyrics, but the slick entertainment reflected positive, African images of the ideal urbanite, the "coon". Not without its own ambivalence, the figure of the sophisticated, self conscious "coon" had not only been a central tool of intra

[page 6]

communal criticism used by early Afro-American stage entertainers, but it ultimately helped to restore racial confidence (Oliver 1984:108). In the minds of South African migrant workers, the image and its corresponding musical style, soon merged into isikhunzi (coons), the earliest prototype of isicathamiya. The 1920s, at the height of Caluza's popularity and the "ragtime craze" among black South Africans, were a period of explosive industrialization that had profound effects on the lives of millions of black people. More than his skills as a performer and professional entertainer it was perhaps Caluza's ability to address the precarious living conditions of the growing black working class, that contributed to his popularity among compound residents. His song Sixotshwa Emsebenzini composed in 1924, depicts the hardship brought about by retrenchment and the job color bar. Themes such as these are recurrent in later as well as in contemporary isicathamiya songs. Thus in the early 1940s, the African Pride Singers echoed Caluza's resentment of the job color bar:

Why are they practicing the color bar? (I.L.A.M. 592S)12

Sawubona baba, a song performed regularly by the Durban group S.A.B.C.Easy Walkers, almost literally repeats Caluza's song Woza
Mfowethu in which the popular composer describes the search for a young migrant worker in Johannesburg by his family:
Greetings to you father.
We have come here on an important mission of seeking our brother.
Greetings to you father,
greetings to you mother,
greetings to you brother,
greetings to you sister.
He left his wife and children.
They are suffering back home.
He went in search of work,
but now ten years have passed without us knowing his whereabouts.
We want to take him back to see the children.
Avail yourself, brother!
Don't hide behind others!
Come, we want to go back with with you to see the children.

While the 1920s witnessed the formation of a working class, the 1930s saw it fully integrated into the socio-economic order. It is against the background of working class formation in Durban in the 1930s that the emergence of the first isicathamiya style from the middle class isikhunzi tradition has to be seen."...

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