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The Documentary: The Sound of Soweto: The Sound of Soweto - Part One

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Afrikan Freedom Station - Sophiatown, Johannesburg

17/05/2017 GMT

The Sound of Soweto - Part One

The Sound of Soweto

BBC World Service - The Documentary, The Sound of Soweto, The Sound of Soweto - Part One

The role of music as defiance in Soweto, South Africa's oldest township

Poet Thabiso Mohare explores the role of music as defiance in Soweto, South Africa's oldest township.

In Soweto (an acronym of South West Townships), certain kinds of music represented defiance against the provincial existence imposed by the apartheid machine, and jazz in particular remained a symbol of black urbanity and of the political influence of black Americans. The unique neighbourhood of Sophiatown in Johannesburg, a mixed area with a vibrant jazz scene was razed during the Apartheid era to make way for white housing. But the music and what it represented, survived through clubs and jazz appreciation societies.

Johannesburg-based poet Thabiso Mohare looks at the musical heritage of Sophiatown, and talks to Sowetan musicians including Sibongele Khumalo and Jonas Gwangwa, about the intersection in their lives of music and politics, and their memories of streets filled with a rich mix of sounds from gramophones and radios to church choirs, workers choirs, and bands playing music from jazz, mbaqanga and soul to rock.

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