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Interview
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by: John Stevenson
Selaelo Selota is a South African jazz guitarist and vocalist with a difference. His latest CD, Lapeng Laka (SIN/Sony South Africa) uniquely takes its inspiration from his SePedi culture in the outlying Limpopo province (formerly Northern province), which borders on Botswana and Zimbabwe. He merges a palpable folk sensibility with jazz improvisation – and an arresting singing voice. Selota was born in Pietersburg, which has since been renamed as Polokwane, the regional capital of Limpopo. Selaelo was educated at the University of Cape Town’s College of Music where he received a degree in jazz studies.
Selaelo spoke with me quite recently about ‘Lapeng Laka’ and the South African jazz scene.
John Stevenson: Lapeng Laka continues to make a great impression on me because it drops its anchor deep into SePedi cultural waters, so to speak. You also marry your culture with the jazz tradition - a tradition that is often seen as being an urban and manifestly modern development. Is jazz still largely viewed as an urban music in South Africa?
Selaelo Selota: Jazz, African pop, R&B and Hip-Hop are music forms that are still largely viewed as urban styles of music in South Africa. These genres of music are produced, performed and staged in urban settings. What I did in Lapeng Laka was to take the roots and the urban, and bring them together in such a way that I can introduce the two communities to each other.
JS: “Tshipi Sepanere” unfolds like a child’s playground rhyme and belies the brutality (spousal abuse) that your lyric poignantly conveys. Indeed, it is this sense of subtlety and understatedness that so characterises Lapeng Laka. Did it take you long to write this song, or did it write itself?
SS: The song ‘Tshipi Sepanere’ is derived from an old traditional chant. I wrote the music part of it and extended the lyrics and melody. So it did not take long to write. In actual fact the material for the entire album was conceptualised and done in two hours using my cell phone and the guitar to record the ideas on the 18th of October 2008. I ended up with sixteen ideas, and eleven of them made it to the album.
JS: You receive excellent support from your sidemen: Paledi Malatji's evocative and almost percussive keyboards, along with Amaeshi Ikechi's imaginative bass playing, and Samuel Ibeh's propulsive and hypnotic drum patterns. How did you meet up with them?
SS: I met Malatji at a talent show where I was one of the judges and a workshop coordinator. I then embarked on grooming him as a solo artist. He now has his own album. Samuel Ibeh was recruited after I heard him at a jam session in a club in Johannesburg. After my bass player passed away, Samuel recommended Amaeshi Ikechi. They all are still growing into the sound.
JS: How has your music been received by your SePedi people?
SS: The Bapedi People are very happy and proud with the music. The album receives most of the sales in Limpopo.
JS: Though your jazz guitar improvisation does shine through - especially on tunes like “Mala a mpsa” and “Tshwene” - it remains tastefully understated. Do you see yourself doing a more instrumental CD in the future, one that shows off your guitaristic prowess?
SS: Yes, I would like to do an instrumental album. However, it will not be with the aim of showing off my guitaristic prowess. It will be more like maintaining the lyrical tradition, the one that sings and tell a story beyond words.
JS: You have had a wealth of experiences. What was it like toiling in the gold mines at such a young age, and what musical discoveries did you make while doing this line of work?
SS: The mining experience exposed me to different tribes with their languages and cultures. I also enjoyed myself as a sportsman (middle distance runner and soccer) Those two helped me forget about the toiling itself. Much of my weekend, afternoons were spent watching traditional cultural competitions.
JS: South Africa has produced a respectable cluster of jazz guitarists: Tony Cox; Jimmy Dludlu; John Selolwane; and Jonathan Butler to mention a few. There is no doubt that the future of the jazz guitar is secure. However, what are some of the major challenges that a guitarist like yourself must face in trying to make a name for yourself?
SS: South Africa is a multi-cultured country, and as a result artists don’t know which musical identity to follow. For instance if I go deeper into Sepedi Cultural sound, I might sound foreign to majority of South Africans
JS: What is the jazz scene in South Africa like?
SS: The Jazz scene in South Africa appears to be seasonal and when there are major jazz festival like The Joy of Jazz or Cape Town International Jazz Festival you can get to see and hear jazz musicians from around the world. Here in South Africa most of the jazz practitioners are students at universities like University of Cape Town , Kwazulu-Natal University and Natal Technicon. In South Africa if you are not playing R&B, Hip-Hop or Afro Pop, and you play purely instrumental music, you are either categorized as a jazz or traditional artist.
JS: “Dithabeng” has a great gospel vibe and describes someone not growing up with a father - a universal phenomenon that people of all races and origins can identify with. Would you say that Lapeng Laka succeeds in reaching out to people by virtue of a universal rhythm?
SS: I believe Lapeng Laka reaches out to people by virtue of a universal rhythm. 10/09/09
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