SOUNDTRACK: DakhaBrakha-GlobalFEST Tiny Desk (Home) Concert #133 (January 11, 2021).
GlobalFEST is an annual event, held in New York City, in which bands from all over the world have an opportunity to showcase their music to an American audience. I’ve never been, and it sounds a little exhausting, but it also sounds really fun.
The Tiny Desk is teaming up with globalFEST this year for a thrilling virtual music festival: Tiny Desk Meets globalFEST. The online fest includes four nights of concerts featuring 16 bands from all over the world.
Given the pandemic’s challenges and the hardening of international borders, NPR Music and globalFEST is moving from the nightclub to your screen of choice and sharing this festival with the world. Each night, we’ll present four artists in intimate settings (often behind desks donning globes), and it’s all hosted by African superstar Angélique Kidjo, who performed at the inaugural edition of globalFEST in 2004.
The final band on the first night is DakhaBrakha. I have wanted to see DakhaBrakha live for years–ever since I saw them ona Tiny Desk Concert. It’s wonderful to see them again, this time with new songs.
Tonight marks DakhaBrakha’s return to globalFEST and Tiny Desk. The Ukranian band’s first globalFEST performance was in 2014, and their 2015 Tiny Desk concert remains a favorite. We’ve had them in our spaces, so it’s a real treat to see them in theirs, the Dakh Theater in Kiev. Coming together, their performance maintains the energy and joy that define their music, bouncing off each other musically and emotionally. DakhaBrakha aims to keep Ukraine’s musical and storytelling tradition alive by making it more accessible to a younger, international audience, a kind of self-proclaimed “ethno-chaos.” They craft stunning sonic worlds for traditional songs, reinventing their heritage with a keen ear for contemporary resonances.
I was initially disappointed that they only played two songs, but these are long complex and varied song. And they are both great.
“Komora” is a new song. It opens with Nina Garenetska singing while slowly bowing the cello. Keyboardist Iryna Kovalenko and drummer Olena Tsybulskajoin join in on backing vocals with great harmony and sweeping high notes. Then Nina starts playing a bass line on the cello and accordion player Marko Halanevych and the other ladies seem to be having a conversation of sounds. Iryna takes over on lead vocals. Marko adds some accordion while Olena plays soft drums. Nina is back to bowing then it returns to cello/bass line and lots of oohing from all the singers.
Then Marko sings a lead line and the women seem to be answering him. The song starts getting faster and faster as they call to each other leading to a spectacular ending.
“Vynnaya ya” is from their latest album. It opens with Iryna and Olena clappin a rhythm and Nina plucking the cello. Marko sings lead and they sing back in a call and response. Nina takes over on vocals to mostly drum and cello accompaniment. Then Marko plays a “horn” solo using just his hands. It sounds like a duck call or muted trumpet and is weird and wonderful.
Olena sings the next verse and then Iryna sings the final verse. When her verse is done, Marko puts down the accordion, stands up and plays another “trumpet” solo with his hands. Then the whole band kicks up the tempo to nearly double speed as they race to a wild conclusion.
I can’t wait to see them in person!
[READ: November 15, 2020] Starlite Memories
I had never heard of Dov Fedler. The title of this book made me look at it twice and then I skimmed the back cover blurb.
Beloved political cartoonist Dov Fedler had the opportunity in the 1990s to make a lifelong dream come true: Directing a movie. … A laugh-out loud story of pitfalls follows.
Turns out he was a political cartoonist for The Star for over 50 years.
Then I saw that Fedler is from South Africa. I’d never read anything by anyone from South Africa before this, I don’t think. So I was curious to see what a comedy from South Africa was like.
Somewhere along the line I completely missed that this was a memoir.
So I spent the first 2/3 of the book believing that this was based on something that really happened but that he was making up names and other details to protect the innocent. Especially since in the beginning the note to the reader says writing is always about the story.
There are times when a writer may have to embellish, obfuscate, conflate and conjure to keep the thing alive.
Again, somehow I glossed right over that word memoir (actually I thought it was a the main character talking about writing a memoir or something).
None of that really changed the way I would have read this. I had no idea who he was or any of thing the things he did, so it might as well have been fictional. But I think it’s funnier that it really happened.
This memoir proved to be mostly funny with a lot of thoughtfulness thrown in for good measure. It is written by a political cartoonist who has always loved movies. He is a Jewish man in South Africa. There are not very many Jewish families in South Africa, but there are enough to have a small cultural center there.
Each chapter of the memoir is titled after a film. He then summarizes the film in a few words. The chapter is tangentially tied to either what happens in that film or to the title of the film.
Dov explains that he was hired to directed the film Timer Joe Part 3. This crazy film title is a real film–the third after two popular movies. But this one is clearly made simply to ash in on the popularity of the other two. The film is basically the brainchild of his producer Moe Mankowitz. Moe says, “I make films for black audiences. Black people like the same moveis we do, but they like them with black people.” Timer Joe 1 and 2 were a success, so he wants Dov to write the script for 3. What’s it about? All he knows is that it’s a comedy.
It turns out that this film is going to be filmed entirely in isiZulu, a language that Fedler does not speak. It is going to filmed in this language so they can get funding from the government.
Although the focus of the book is on this movie, the memoir does cover his whole life. It talks about how his father was a dramatic, overbearing man. He was constantly on Dov’s brother Motty’s case. Motty was a genius with electronics. He could build and reassemble all manner of technology. But their father didn’t care about that. He only wanted Motty to be a dentist or at least something academic. When does Motty ever read?
Once Dov saw his first film in the theatre he was absolutely hooked.
By taking me to see Pinocchio my parents have murdered the dentist. This is the day he died and is buried forever.
He went to the cinema as often as he possibly could. He also liked to act out his favorite comedies (like Abbott and Costello) with his friend Raymond. Raymond’s uncle is Al Debbo an entertainer. He is much older than the boys and he ignores Dov, even though Dov would love to be acknowledged by this famous man.
It was this his of animated films that got Dov started in cartooning. He wanted to work for Disney but he wound up doping political cartoons. His father hated this idea, of course.
But he wound up making a successful life out of it. As his success as a cartoonist grew, his father actually became somewhat proud of him (not as proud as if he’d had a real job, but the income was steady and solid.
Year later, though, when Dov decided to write a script for Timer Joe 3, his father freaked out on him again–“why give up what you’re good at for something new?”
Because it’s a dream come true. He is on a set, he is a director, people have to listen to him. Except that he can’t communicate with any of the actors since he doesn’t speak their language. There is some obviously humorous misunderstandings on set. Trying to get the actors to act a subtle English word when none of them speak English is not the easiest thing. Some of them do actually speak English, but they are told not to talk in English because of the grant.
Not to mention actors who are charming and excitable to watch until the camera points at them and they freeze up. Plus, the film set is a disaster–about as low budget as you can get.
As for my reading this book, there were some cultural confusions. Like South African words untranslated (a common thing in South Africa I assume)
- I do it without baasskap getting in the way, [boss-hood or white supremacy].
- The issue is fraught with vrot [rotten]. Then there is that ‘blerrie kleurling.’ [bloody coloreds].
- D’Olibveira plays cricket for the blerrie rooineks [bloody / a contemptuous or jocular name for an English person or an English-speaking South African] in England.
- The man said ‘Voetsek. [Get lost!] Don’t you blerrie [bloody] tell me where to park.”
There is also cultural stuff to learn about South Africa. Comedian Nat Bregman (now deceased,) and apparently a hugely popular and successful personality known as Michael Mayer (confusingly mistyped as Meyer throughout one chapter). Also Fedler and Darryl Jooste, who died some 10 years ago, had the country in stitches with their subversive, off-the-wall comedy programme Take a Chance and Take Another Chance, which they wrote and co-presented for the English Service.
There is much chaos and mayhem on the set. At some point, Fedler realizes he’s not even really in charge any more. There’s producers with money behind the film making decisions he’s not even aware of.
The star of their film Jabulani Masondo known as Kabu Jabu or Jay-Jay is a huge celebrity. He is also very talented and his acting raises the quality of the film immeasurably. Even when it seems like he doesn’t understand what’s happening, he is simply amazing to watch.
After all the trouble, they do get the film made. They use some impressive homemade special effects (thanks to his brother) which actually work nicely in the picture.
But the world premiere of his movie is a noon showing in theater that runs films all day and night–no fanfare, no nothing. And yet, there’s his name in the credits. And the movie isn’t half bad.
So this was a fascinating look into [some small parts of] South African culture from an insider. I w
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