Browsing by Author "Deja, Richard"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Cultural interchange along the Indian Ocean during the global middle ages (700- 1500ad): the role of Arabs and Persians in Africa-China musical exchange
    (2021) Ola, Adebola Mobolaji; Deja, Richard
    The relationship between Africa and China remains one of the most important geopolitical and economic partnerships of the 20th and 21st centuries. The Africa-China relation, although relatively recent, has its foundation in previous relations dating back over 500 years ago. It is against this backdrop of longstanding relations that this research is situated as it aims to trace and examine Africa-China musical exchange between 700-1500AD. The main goal of this research is to answer the following questions: (1) Are there any musical exchange between Africa and China between 700 -1500AD? (2) If there are, what are these musical exchanges and how did they manifest? (3) Are these musical exchanges mutual? (4) If there are no musical exchanges during this period, why? (5) Are there any musical exchanges at any other time pre-700AD or post 1500AD? (6) What are some of the impacts of such a musical exchange? This research uses a historical framework in understanding and presenting Africa-China cultural relations. My hypothesis, given that Africa and China did not officially meet or establish formal relations until the early 15th century, posits that in the absence of direct musical exchange, the Arabs and Persians may have been the music brokers, circulating music both to Africa and China as they did with trade. Having consulted some translated primary sources, several secondary sources and iconographic materials obtained from libraries and archives, the research findings suggest that my hypothesis is partly correct. The Persians and specifically, the Arabs, were circulating musical and cultural practices around the Indian Ocean, all the way to Al-Andalusia (Arab Spain). This spread of music and culture, I argue, gave the region some musical uniformity within diversity. This uniformity is visible through the circulation of musical instruments such as the short-necked lute; the Persian barbat; the Arabian ūd; the Chinese pipa and the African kwitra, as well as the migration of musical ideas and musicians such as Barbad, Ziryab and Kang, throughout Asia, Africa and Europe. The direct musical exchange between Africa and China only takes place in the 20th century.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Open Access
    Expressing South African musical sensibilities In Jazz: the cultural relevance of John Coltrane and the musical impact of Mccoy Tyner
    (2025) Dunjana, Thembelihle; Bruinders, Sylvia; Deja, Richard
    This paper seeks to explore the cultural and spiritual relevance of John Coltrane (1926- 1967) and the musical impact of McCoy “Alfred” Tyner (1938-2020) on two contemporary South African pianists, with a focus on the music of Afrika Mkhize and Nduduzo Makhathini, as well as an insider's perspective of this subject in light of my own music, as a South African pianist. McCoy Tyner and John Coltrane are most famous for playing in the Coltrane classic quartet comprised of McCoy Tyner (piano), Jimmy Garrison/Steve Davis (bass), Elvin Jones (drums) and John Coltrane (saxophone) from the early to mid 1960s. The classic “Coltrane quartet sound” is tightly linked with the modal jazz sub-style and is marked by members' contributions such as Tyner's distinct minor, quartal and suspended harmonic voicings, Jones's extensive use of cross rhythms and dynamic intensity, Garrison's rhythmic drive and Coltrane's unique timbre on the tenor and soprano saxophone. Afrika Mkhize and Nduduzo Makhathini are contemporary local pianists who have contributed to current SA jazz repertoire. Several aspects of their music such as harmony, melodic phrasing, composition or underlying ideology display features reminiscent of Tyner and/or Coltrane. The primary point of departure is to explore possible reasons Tyner and Coltrane have impacted Mkhize and Makhathini (musically and otherwise). By paralleling the discourse of 1960s Black America (in which Coltrane's early works are situated) with cultural interests held by contemporary SA jazz artists, this paper evaluates how these discourses coincide, thereby answering the question: why are the musical aesthetics of Coltrane and Tyner relevant in echoing a South African jazz sensibility? The primary question is explored primarily through discussing the signiZicance of spirituality as well as understanding why Coltrane's integration of Indian and African musical elements make him a point of interest for contemporary South African musicians. The second question argues the signiZicance of McCoy Tyner's harmonic language in aiding a South African sensibility in jazz, through analysing the extent to which Tyner's minor- and quartal-based harmonies are apparent within these SA jazz pianists' compositional and improvisational style.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Marketing, distribution, and consumption of popular music in the face of music piracy and the economic meltdown in Zimbabwe from 2008 to 2019
    (2021) Nyahuma, Brian; Deja, Richard
    The expansion of recording technologies in the world over the past several decades has contributed to an increase in music piracy globally in all forms. As a result, piracy has become a global phenomenon affecting the production, marketing, distribution, and consumption of music. In Zimbabwe, this has been exacerbated by the economic meltdown that the country is facing since 2008. Piracy has emerged to be a problem which has attracted a substantial amount of local and international attention over the past few decades. However, the marketing, distribution, and consumption of popular music in Zimbabwe remains largely uncharted. Thus, this study aims to examine how popular music is marketed, distributed, and consumed in Zimbabwe in the face of music piracy. It also seeks to explore how music piracy has impacted (negatively and positively) on the lives of musicians and record label owners and producers and what these music personnel are doing to combat music piracy. This inquiry is qualitative in nature. Data collection was done using structured and informal interviews as well as document analysis and literature founded research. A concise account of music piracy in select countries of the world in Europe, the Americas, and Africa, in addition to a focus on Zimbabwe, is given through literature review and information gathered through fieldwork to contribute to a new conceptual framework. Results show that music piracy is still a big problem affecting music and has changed the way in which music is marketed, distributed, and consumed in Zimbabwe. The economic situation in the country is also affecting music distribution and consumption with results showing that people would want to deal with basic needs first before embarking on anything else. It also emerged that established musicians are most affected by music piracy than upcoming ones. Key findings from this research indicate that piracy provide upcoming musicians with viable avenues to market themselves. This study is grounded on empirical findings and could be valuable by putting Zimbabwean music on the world map. Further studies should be carried out to see if the same conclusions can be reached
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Open Access
    The Legacy of Vanalombo: Exploring links between Vanalombo and Jako Malabar from the perspective of a Makonde musician and dancer
    (2023) Nafassi, Vintani; Deja, Richard
    For this project and dissertation, I examine the performance traditions of Jako musician-dancers from Réunion Island and Vanalombo performers from the Mueda Plateau in Mozambique from a personal perspective as a Makonde musician and dancer versed in these styles. In the process, I explore possible connections between these two performance traditions that can be explained as the result of the slave trade in the Indian Ocean and its impact on the customs and culture of the inhabitants of the Bourbon Islands. The study culminates in the production of a documentary in which Vanalombo masters of initiation rites and Makonde drum players and dancers participated in demonstrations, recordings, and interviews in Makonde settlements around Maputo City in Mozambique. This fieldwork footage is presented in a documentary that, along with the written component of the dissertation, traces my practice-oriented research journey and its culmination in a community presentation of Jako and Vanalombo styles. The dissertation overviews secondary sources on the subject in the fields of ethnomusicology, musicology, and anthropology, as well as archival and museum documentation from Réunion Island, and assembles interviews and conversations with musicians, dancers and elders still actively involved in Jako and Vanalombo performances. As initiated insider and practitioner of Mapiko dance, I have been able to rely on insights drawing on personal experience as a performer and have made auto-ethnographic reflection a central tenet of my approach. From a personal point of view, researching these connections stemmed from an ambition to better understand the historical events that have shaped and are shaping Makonde society in urban contexts and to seek out ways to respond to the challenges of cultural continuity in a fastchanging world.