The International Library of African Music (ILAM), part of Rhodes University, tomorrow marks its 60th anniversary at a special concert on the Festival main programme, Celebrating African Music.
The International Library of African Music (ILAM), part of Rhodes University, tomorrow marks its 60th anniversary at a special concert on the Festival main programme, Celebrating African Music.
Former ILAM director and Grahamstown resident, Professor Andrew Tracey, will be joined on stage by a vibrant array of musicians, singers and dancers to raise the rafters of the Great Hall in a tribute to the work of the library and to the indigenous music of the continent.
ILAM is an archive and research institute which, as Tracey says, exists to promote and preserve African music.
ILAM’s main purpose over the past 60 years has been to record, analyse, teach and document African music – mainly from central Southern Africa.
According to Professor Diane Thram, the current ILAM director, it houses one of the world’s largest collections of historical African music recordings and a significant collection of African instruments.
ILAM was founded in 1954 by Andrew Tracey's father, Hugh, who had been recording and researching African music for some time.
“I was sort of born into this. There was always music around," explains Tracey, who took over when his father retired.
The institute was initially based in Roodepoort, but was brought to Rhodes in 1978.
“The purpose of ILAM is to conserve African music, because it’s being lost at a huge rate," Tracey said.
“Half the instruments we have here are no longer played or made.”
According to Professor Thram, one of ILAM’s most exciting new projects is the “repatriation” – through digital versions – of their archived recordings.
Recordings are returned to the musicians themselves or their families, and also to schools and cultural departments in the countries they came from.
Thram hopes these recordings will inspire the continuation of these musical genres and instruments.
The institute has always been privately funded, mainly by overseas foundations and grants.
Saturday’s concert is also a celebration of the new glass display cupboards for the Tracey Instrument Collection at ILAM, which were sponsored by a grant from the U.S. Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation.
The American ambassador will be at the performance.
“[The concert] is a vibrant, high energy show that brings to stage local talent performing traditional and contemporary African music and dance," said Thram.
According to Tracey, the concert will be headlined by a well-known traditional Pondo musician and bowplayer, Madosini Manqina, who, along with the all-round instrumentalist, Pedro Espi-Sanchis, will perform “Mado jazz”.
It will also include performances by local Siyaphambili Dancers, President’s Award Gumboot Dancers, Kwela Pennywhistle Jazz, Amaphiko Dancers and contemporary Pantsula dancers, The Via kasi Movers.
The show will end off with a performance by Andrew Tracey – accompanied by other musicians – of Congolese guitar songs, a Nynaga panpipe dance and a calypso group.
The calypso performance will feature a song written by Tracey specifically for the show called, "Lovely Poly Rhythm".
“That’s what African music has a great deal of – lovely poly rhythms,” Tracey explained.
Celebrating African Music is at the Transnet Great Hall, Saturday 4 July at 6pm.
Book at the Festival booking office or online at www.nationalartsfestival.co.za.
