You may very well have heard about Billy Monama by now.
He is a gifted musician and scholar who has devoted his life to the heritage of local harmonics through his various live shows, interviews, teaching tools and literature.
Billy is always hard at work on the next thing as far as using his skills with the guitar in hand to both teach and entertain.
With this never far from mind, he has unveiled his latest show, the Sophiatown Mix, which will be taking place on Toby Street in the famed neighbourhood on March 21. Attached to the show will be an exhibition of the life and times of the vaunted journalist and editor Henry Nxumalo who was the editor of Drum Magazine in the 1950s.
“This particular show will be a revival of Sophiatown. It will also be an honour for me to be performing there as it is a very historical and important place. It was the home of the greatest musicians in a place where people were forcefully removed. It was the home of the greatest musicians and the work I do with preserving heritage gives me a sense of synergy between myself, the work I do and the music,” he says excitedly as his band preps in the background, tuning their instruments to continue with their preparations ahead of the show.
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Billy has long since been fascinated with the sounds of the Sophiatown era and holds this period in high regard. As you can imagine, rehearsals for this showcase have been intensive.
“Right now, we are preparing and rehearsing we will intensify these before the show,” he says.
He is always big on looking back and savouring musical moments of yesteryear.
“I’ll be taking the audience back down memory lane, the 50s and 60s and the dark days of apartheid and we will play the musicians who played a role in emancipating South Africa from the dark era.”
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Sophiatown bred an uninhibited sense of creativity which burst through the parameters of race, class, and creed.
“The music of Sophiatown saw musicians from different races emerging and collaborating with each other and that is why the old government felt threatened by this area. Sophiatown means a lot. The music of the 1950s shaped the sound of the music we listen to today. There would be no Afropop if there was no marabi of African jazz.”
His set will comprise music from an array of stalwarts and luminary figures who we would all do well to never forget.
“We’re talking Hugh Masekela, Jonas Gwangwa and people like Trevor Huddleston who was one of the most pivotal people. He took people like Hugh and Jonas and taught them music, he supported them. Dorothy Masuka is also one of my absolute favourites so expect some of her music as well.”
We had to enquire why these very organic and emotive sounds have almost been phased out and slightly eroded with time.
“They are not phased out, it’s time,” he states emphatically.
“All music has its period and music evolves and it evolves along with the custodians of that sound. It can be unfortunate, but this music is no longer popular music that you hear commonly on radio and is foregrounded in the media.”
He almost wrangles the excitement he feels building in himself as curtain call approaches.
“Shows like this have a greater meaning which is essential to me. A lot of places in the world preserve their heritage. America has done this very well. Their culture is now known throughout the world, and I think we should do that more as South Africans and be better custodians of the music our ancestors made. We as young people have a crucial role to play in doing that.”
The talented guitarist has high hopes that this show will bring people together while reminding those who attend about who we are as South Africans and the spirit we carry.
Billy is also the proud author of a book that unearths the guitar styles and their proponents and how that instrument shaped the soundscape. The first volume took him 15 years, but he is at work on the next instalment of it.
He will also be on the lineup for the Jazz In The Lights showcase happening at the Joburg Zoo at the tail end of March.
