- Almon Memela - Amapoyisa
- Cowboy Superman - Ntombi Kazipheli
- Mfongozi Guitar Players - Marabi Jazz
- Casper Shiki - Ngazula
- Elliot Gumede - Amasoka
- The Play Singer - Imitwalo
- The Play Singer - Kusile Dale
- Enoch Mahlobo And Shezi - Wenzani
- The Blind Man With His Guitar - Isoka Labaleka
- Nongomo Trio - Guga Mzimba
- The Play Singer - Nga Fika Ekaya
- Cowboy Superman - I Lele Insizwa
- Mbaqanga Guitar Trio - Come Again
- Cowboy Sweethearts - Sambamba Lomfana
- Cowboy Superman And Beauty - Kumnandi Kwazulu
- The Blind Guitar Player - Ungakhulumi
- Thoko And Almon - Mandlovu
- Zachariah And His Guitar - Abafana
- Mampondo And Sobantu - Themba Lami
- Baca Boys - Ngiyamqoma
- Dennis Khanyile - Thembile
- The Play Singer - U Ngi Cebe E Poisen
- Mike Khuzwayo And The Playboys - Zibedu
- The Blind Man And His Guitar - Unledo Wabantu
- Almon Memela - Lashona
"Amazing! Like stumbling on a treasure-trove of unheard Charlie Patton and Blind Willie McTell 78s, but imbued with the spirit of Mahlathini and Ladysmith." Joe Boyd
'But for this compilation of rescued songs masterfully restored from rare 78 rpm shellacs, few could imagine the diversely beautiful roots of Zulu Guitar Music emerging during the period 1950 – 1965. Story-tellers and master musicians appropriate outlaw personae, re-purpose country and western, Hawaiian and other styles, to stretch and challenge our notion of “the Zulu guitar”.
Twenty-five songs (18 on vinyl) plunge us into the depths of the migrant experience. Translations in the liner notes offer us glimpses of pugnacity, melancholy and heartache, all coloured by the paternalism that circumscribed the singers’ apartheid-dominated lives.
The early *mbaqanga* undertow in many of the songs subverts the wanderlust of Country and Western music into a fugitivity burdened by nostalgia. Something irretrievable has been lost, prompting a blending of ideas and cultures to make sense through thankless acts of musical divination. Inadvertently they have been thrust into the role of the antihero, where outwitting competition for lovers is as important as evading the Black Jacks (apartheid’s municipal cops) and their informants.
Considering the politically repressive period that this music emerges from, we can surmise that the specificity in the storytelling went a long way towards evading censure. But even when words are absent, there is a narrative arc suggested by the musical expression.
With most of the master tapes wilfully destroyed or lost, modern transcription and restoration techniques from the original shellac discs present the original sound most likely more clearly than ever heard before.'
Produced for reissue by Chris Albertyn and Matt Temple at Matsuli Music and Siemon Allen at Flatinternational.
Artwork design by Siemon Allen.
Liner note and translations by Kwanele Sosibo.
Audio restoration and lacquers by Frank Merritt at The Carvery and pressed at Pallas, Germany.
Original 78rpm recordings sourced from the collections of Chris Albertyn at Matsuli Music, and Siemon Allen at the Flatinternational Archive.






































