Monthly Archives: July 2018

S06E16 – From Graceland To Gazankulu

Everyone knows Paul Simon’s Graceland album, but not many know another album was made by an American artist shortly afterwards using the same winning formula of blending American songwriting with South African music – collaborating with local South African artists in the studio and in the composition of new music. That artist was Harry Belafonte and the album was ‘Paradise In Gazankulu’. In today’s show we feature some of the artists who worked with Belafonte and his songwriter, Jake Holmes, to produce this gem of an album.

We feature:

  • Alistair Coakley (with Hotline)
  • The Soul Brothers
  • Bakithi Kumalo
  • Vusi Khumalo
  • West Nkosi
  • Marks Mankwane and Makgona TsohleBand
  • Hilton Rosenthal and Bobby Summerfield (with Savuka)
  • Morris Goldberg
  • Brenda Fassie

We really appreciate your feedback. We’re always open to suggestions and even requests! If you’re a South African musician living or touring internationally, do let us know about your concerts, album releases or tours – we’d love to give you a punt on the show.

Our email address is yesno@tunemewhat.com But most importantly, if you enjoy the show, tell your friends about Tune Me What?! You can find us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TuneMeWhat

S06E15 – South Africans Sing Dylan

Few doubt that Bob Dylan was one of the 20th century’s greatest songwriters, but to many his voice is an acquired taste, hence the many, many covers of his songs are frequently preferred to his originals, and for those who hate his voice, luckily there are no shortage of these. South African artists were as enthusiastic as any to cover his music and to make his songs their own in almost every popular South African genre. In this episode, ‘Tune Me What?’explores some of these. The great Miriam Makeba said of Dylan the he was “someone who wrote very profound and interesting songs.” We think this is absolutely true, so we hope you enjoy with us an hour of the words of Bob Dylan through the voices of South African artists.

This episode features:

  • David Kramer
  • Miriam Makeba
  • The Third Eye
  • Ladysmith Black Mambazo
  • The Dream Merchants
  • The Soweto Gospel Choir
  • Koos van der Merwe
  • John E Sharp & The Squires
  • Manfred Mann’s Earth Band
  • Tribe After Tribe
  • The Darius Brubeck Quartet

We really appreciate your feedback. We’re always open to suggestions and even requests! If you’re a South African musician living or touring internationally, do let us know about your concerts, album releases or tours – we’d love to give you a punt on the show.

Our email address is yesno@tunemewhat.com But most importantly, if you enjoy the show, tell your friends about Tune Me What?! You can find us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TuneMeWhat