Clegg to play Shaw Amphitheatre
- By http://www.rmoutlook.com/article/20120726/RMO0302/307269996/clegg-to-play-shaw-amphitheatre
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Clegg plays the Shaw Amphitheatre, Sunday (July 29) at 7 p.m. Clegg’s history is as bold and colourful as the country that is his home and his music. His vibrant blend of western pop and Zulu rhythms has sold over five million records, won a Grammy Award, and wowed audiences around the world. He is a singer, songwriter, dancer, anthropologist and musical activist and enjoys a truly international reputation. Over three decades, Clegg has won a number of national and international awards for his music and for his outspoken views on apartheid, his perspectives on migrant workers in South Africa and the general situation in the world today. Born in Bacup, near Rochdale, England, in 1953, to an English father and Zimbabwean mother, he was brought up in his mother’s native land of Zimbabwe. She married a South African journalist and immigrated to South Africa when Clegg was seven years old. At the age of nine, he spent two years in Zambia with his parents who then returned to South Africa when he was 11 years old. Between his mother (a cabaret and jazz singer) and his stepfather (a crime reporter) who took him into the townships at an early age, Clegg was exposed to a broader cultural perspective than that available to his peers. While lecturing in anthropology at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, Clegg worked on the concept of blending English lyrics and Western melodies with Zulu musical structures. Clegg joined Sipho Mchunu in making music which was unprofitable because of the radio censorship of mixed music and mixed bands. Clegg and Mchunu called their band Juluka, which means “sweat” in Zulu. Their music was subjected to censorship and internal restrictions on state-owned radio and their only way to access an audience was through touring. This brought them into conflict with Group Areas Act that enforced the geographical separation of race groups and their cultural facilities. At this time, they could only play in private venues as the law forbade mixed-race performances in public venues and spaces. Testing the law, they played at universities, church halls, migrant labour hostels and even in the lounges of private houses. In late 1979 their first album, Universal Men, was released. The album was a musical journey into the life of the Zulu migrant worker, living and working in the city, but continually journeying home, caught between two different worlds. African Litany came out two years later and was greeted with critical acclaim. Ubuhle Bemvelo was released and recorded entirely in the Zulu language. It mixed Western and African styles of music and appealed to a niche market. Juluka were most fruitful during 1982 and 1983 with tours of the U.S.A., Canada, Germany and Scandinavia. In 1983, they released Work for All and a year later came out with Musa Ukungilandela. In the six years they were initially together, the band recorded two platinum and five gold albums and became an international success. In 1985, though, Mchunu returned to his roots, which was cattle farming in Zululand, while Clegg formed another crossover band, Savuka, which means “we have risen.” He went on to mix African music with a wider music base and international rock sounds, continuing to release albums and tour the world. Savuka was terminated in 1993 and three years later Clegg and Mchunu temporarily re-formed Juluka and recorded Ya Vuka Inkunzi (also released as Crocodile Love). Since then, Clegg has recorded several solo projects, including his latest album, Human (2010), One Life (2007), New World Survivor in 2002 and his close-to-the-heart projects, A South African Story (2003) involving an album and live concerts, have again proved resounding successes. Clegg has performed on all four of Nelson Mandela’s Aids Awareness Concerts in South Africa and in Norway. |
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