Sophiatown Swing

Abstract

Sophiatown Swing is an original Jazz Theatre production that I had created in 2019. This unique, first of its kind production includes a 9 piece jazz ensemble, video, narration and a small set. The basis of the production takes the audience member into Sophiatown (the heart of jazz) in the late 1950’s and tells the stories of jazz during this time which was one of the most prolific jazz periods in South African history because a few years later (1960), jazz, dancing and the beer halls were outlawed. The result being that jazz as we know it practically ceased to exist with most artists going into exile.

Sophiatown Swing takes the audience member to various beer halls/shebeens in and around Sophiatown and focuses on the legendary artists of the time (Miriam Makeba, the Skylarks, Hugh Masekela, Dorothy Masuku, Abdulla Ibrahim and several others). The lives of the artists are told (via narration) while their music is performed live by the 9 piece jazz ensemble. The performance is put into its social environment via video which presents historic footage of Sophiatown, the artists, the dance and beer halls and the living conditions at the time.

Musically, all the music for this production was carefully selected and arranged for a 9 piece ensemble which included a saxophone section (5 saxophones) and rhythm section (piano, bass, drums and guitar). The music focusses on some of the iconic jazz compositions of this period that paved the way for future generations of jazz artists in South Africa.

The creation of this production required me to firstly research this time period in jazz by identifying social constructs of the time, setting, iconic artists and their music. Several influential artists were identified and key compositions were selected. I then had these compositions arranged for the ensemble while simultaneously searching the archives for video footage of Sophiatown and the artists. This video footage was then edited in order to create a storyline. A narrative script was created that told the story of the artists, their lives and their music. This narrative text was then synced to various compositions (that would be performed live) and to the video so that one continuous story unfolds. The net result being audience members transported into Sophiatown during the late 1950s and experiencing the music, video and narration in order to be fully immersed into this historic period in jazz.