AVAF back in South Africa

It was the third visit of Andreas and his Friends at the southern tip of the great African continent. Again we all have been enchanted by this beautiful country and its wonderful people. And again we have heard of so many new and fascinating stories about the miraculous history of the Vollenweider-music in this part of the world.

The story has been told before, but for those who still may be new to all of this, a brief overview: in the early eighties, via private channels, Vollenweiders music has found its way to South Africa. The country still suffered under the Apartheid-regime. In a very short period of time, this particular music has been adopted, mainly by the black community, who was absolutely convinced, that Vollenweider was one of them. No one wanted to hear about the fact, that Andreas was white and was from Switzerland ;-)

In the following years, this sound became part of a soundtrack of the struggle, to liberate the country by following the path of non-violence. It stood for freedom, peace, patience and hope and it became a part of the public life during that time.

Just a few examples:

• on Sundays, after church, at the gathering places of the townships, the music was played to the public over loudspeakers
• the music was played before the big soccer games, the audience in the stadion picking up and chanting the melodies of songs like Hirzel, Dancing with the Lion or Behind the Gardens
• on the freedom marches, when thousands marched from Township to Township, the crowd chanted Pearls and Tears, with "spontaneous" lyrics, reminding people, not to leave the path of non-violence in the process of change and liberation
• people of the Townships formed listener groups
• surprisingly they were joined even by people, who were known as to be attracted to much a more militant ways of bringing about the change
• There was hardly any household, that did not have at least one cassette of Vollenweider-music
• being asked, most people would describe their memories of this music almost as a kind of friendship in dark times, and hearing it again would remind them of the euphoric atmosphere in the entire country, as South Africa was undergoing this dramatic change, peaceful and hopeful

That explains, why, at the Johannesburg concerts, the audience burst out screaming, after hearing the first few notes of Behind the Gardens.
Andreas Vollenweider & Friends played two shows at the Joy of Jazz-Festival on August 28th and 29th for a euphoric audience.
Just a few days before, Andreas visited the Township Mamelodi, East of Pretoria, where he played a small renaissance harp at a meeting place on the street. It didn't take long and the first people recognized the sound. At first they were a bit skeptical, but then were overjoyed.

Guest performer was Pops Mohamed, a well known South African multi-instrumentalist and ambassador for the African cultural heritage, who was part of AVAF on several occasions before. His mbiras and kalimbas as well as the countless African sound-flavors added a wonderful storytelling element to the music.

As first time guests of AVAF, the young vocalist group Africapella, with Vuyo Tshuma, Loyiso Makhapela and Vusi Nhlapo, have impressed everyone with their super-perfect voicings and vocal acrobatics as well as with the warmth and depth they have added to the Vollenweider-Sound. This line-up of musicians allowed AVAF for the first time, to perform songs like Passage to Promise, a song Andreas has created together with the legendary and world famous South African vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo in 1991 for the album Book of Roses. Like other Vollenweider-songs, this melody has over the years reached the status of a hymn, which explains, why the audience joined in chanting right away. As the band began to play and improvise around "Nkosi Sikelel i'Africa", South Africas national anthem, all the voices rose to a giant choir, full of passion and dedication.

A visit and workshop at the Gautheng College, Dobsonville, once again clearly showed, how not only Andreas' music, but also his world of thoughts find open ears and hearts. The students were very concentrated and fascinated, as Andreas talked about music being a vessel, which we need to fill with content, stories, life and spirit. No matter how good we become on our instruments, if what we play does not receive this breath of life from us, we will not be able to touch our audience. The Trio harp - human beat box - sax gave an improvised first hand demonstration of the thesis, which was deepened even further, when Pops Mohamed reminded the young listeners of their own cultural heritage by introducing the story of the indigenous African San people, how they use the music of their mysteriously sounding mouth bows, to calm the bees, so they can take some of their honey (naturally only as much as they really need) without being stung.

Talking to the college's head' masters, we've realized, how these young people appreciate their dedicated efforts, to provide a high quality education to them, understanding that it directly stands for perspective in life. It reminded us of the problems we have in our society with the many young people drastically lacking motivation and interest...

Besides all the positive, which is evident everywhere, the many challenges this country still has to face are - especially in light of the Soccer World Championship 2010 - are enormous. We wish South Africa all the best in this process, so they can continue to inspire the continent as well as the rest of the world with their spirit of change - in peace!