Swing Is In The Air
Sunday August 30th, 2020 with Paul Campbell
Echoes of Sophiatown and Township Jazz

In the 1920s, in South Africa, there was a cultural renaissance going on in the multi-cultural/ethnic, but primarily non-white Townships, such as Sophiatown in Johannesburg. Influenced by American music and Hollywood films Township Jazz combines African vocals and rhythms with a big band swing sound. During the 1950s, with the rise of the apartheid regime, South African jazz artists were forced to either flee the country, or find other means of making a living. Echoes of Sophiatown, by the Pebble Shakers, is the result of an international crowdfunding effort to preserve, transcribe and translate performances and recordings of that period.