Mayihlome/Aahwaan followed in 2014, with two performances at the
Homecoming Centre of District Six. (the CD was put out in 2015). Again, the music
captured the sufferings, struggles, dilemmas of our times in musically
revolutionary ways. Conceived as an oratorio, the work drew on the expressive
inflections of instruments from both sides of the Indian Ocean – the sarod and
sarangi from India; Nguni bows from KwaZulu Natal, and guitar, saxophone, bass
and drums, which are ubiquitous to both.
Musicologist Angela Impey described the performance as ‘an intimate exploration
of hope in the midst of violence and war’. ‘The 7-tracks take us into a world -
sometimes recognizably South African, sometimes more generally inferred - that
is at once harsh and chaotic, and follow a narrative that moves variously through
expressions of fear and defiance to a place of calm and ultimate joy”. Hove
concurred: ‘The atmosphere is rebellious, the words are harsh, the songs allude
to defiance.’ Different musical styles are seamlessly woven together and can be
African or Indian; after a while, you get lost about what is what.
All compositions by Ahsan Ali, Brydon Bolton, Jurgen Brauninger, Sumangala Damodaran, Sazi Dlamini, Pritam Ghosal, Ze Maria, Neo Muyanga, Vivek Narayanan, Malika Ndlovu, Paki Peloeole, Sabitha TP, Tina Schouw, Ari Sitas, and Mbali Vilakazi.
