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Throwing up the Past, Rapping up the Present - Old Roots & New Directions
We don't want to give anybody the impression that the only thing 3rd Ear Music is doing of late, is digging up the past. It's true to say that we are focusing on the odd almost forgotten underground (alternative) musician & music of the SAfrican Rock, Folk 'n Jazz seams. 3rd Ear Music has always been at the rock face carving out a future with & for our musician friends, in the genres of music that we know, understand & feel most comfortable with. But the Hidden Years Music Archive Project (HYMAProject) is only a small part of what we love sharing. - As one visitor put it - our Hidden History may be a Pandora's box of treasures but it is not only a reminder for those who do remember - it's also for those who may have forgotten to forget & who never had the privilege of listening or hearing these musicians & their music in the first place - for one political reason or another.
The Free Peoples Concerts, Tribal Blues, Music For Africa, Guitars For Africa, and some of those exclusively 'local content' clubs, theatres, concerts & bands that 3rd Ear Music were so patriotically & idealistically involved with in the 60's & 70's are only now beginning to be heard in the light of day. Lest you don't know, 3rd Ear has been involved with & responsible for, many recent & current historic productions as well - Splashy Fen, Rustler's Valley, Fin De Siecle, The Living Treasures Festival (St Lucia); concert tours (starting in 1994 with our first foreign venture) Shawn Phillips, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Richie Havens, Kinky Friedman and so on - all with one aim in mind - to keep the 3rd Ear Music alive & well & as up-to-date as age & technology will allow. So what else is news, history or retro? Young people cry, hey that's not what we want to hear & we laugh right back - get your act together & organise yourselves. Our parents never promoted our music, sessions & festivals - we did it & we're still doing it. So go for it - and if we think it's worth your effort then 3rd Ear Music (and friends) will assist wherever we can!
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This is now.....
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That was then.....
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 A resolution passed at the recent FREEMUSE Conference on Music Censorship in South Africa - Hosted by Ole Reitov & Jacob Valdemar from Denmark.
...more info >>
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 The Goal, Objectives & Programme of MMINO
Tom Gravlie from Norway & Edgar Masuku from Johannesburg, the Norwegian South Africa Music Education Programme (MMINO) representatives visit 3rd Ear Music in Durban.
...more info >>
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 3rd Ear assists ex-Capetown attorney (now living in Las Vegas & originally from George in the Cape) with a Cape Kwela Penny Whistle project. Julian Burnett returns to Capetown to produce a CD for professional street busker of over 40 years, James Armoed.
...more info >>
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 Student activist, playwright, teacher, actor & author Greig 'White Men With Weapons' Coetzee returns to the Playhouse Theatre stage with a new show - Seeing Red. Listen out for the pre-show music, from the Hidden Years Archives.
...more info >>
NOTE: - Public hearings on issues related to local music recorded content on Radio & TV, will be hosted by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) in Durban on May 9th - It's a public hearing so try & be there. What interest, if any, will this generate in the local Music Media?
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 There was another one of those extremely popular music evenings - "laid-back & casual" soft jazz, folk 'n blues - at the Blue Zoo, Mitchell Park, Durban on Wednesday 28th February.
The concert featured Alan Judd (Guitar), Terry Rosenberg (Piano), Dan Choirboli (percussion) & David Marks (Guitar) & introducing the wonderful voice of Mary-Ellen Blackman to the Blue Zoo audience.
Booking is essential: Tel: (031) 303-3568
more info >>
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 Thanks to MMINO 3rd Ear Music are now working on a number CD-R re-issues with notes & Biogs: A donation to the HYMA Project from ex-Zimbabwean now living in Oz Rick Barber, will see a release of the great John Oakley-Smith's songs - some live recordings and a few unreleased studio gems - Matinees on Saturdays. We are also working on Azumah - Long Time Ago; Hawk Live; Maskandi Collection - Strings & Bows; Colin Shamley - Born Guilty; and with the Centre For Jazz & Popular Music Studies at the University of Natal 3eM we aim to issue Darius Brubeck's celebrated Student Jazz Band, The Jazzanians on CD later this year.
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 Julian Burnett is a SAfrican music fan. He loves the pennywhistle sound and has discovered the magic of Capetown Jazz through Morris Goldberg. Julian first heard James Armoed playing pennywhistle while busking on St.George's Street in Cape Town, while out on a visit from Las Vegas, USA, a few years ago....
...more info >>
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 Norwegian Grant-In-Aid for the Hidden Years Music Archive project - The South African - Norwegian Education & Music Programme - MMINO - has, through the National Arts Council of South Africa, awarded 3rd Ear Music a grant-in-aid for the year 2001. 3rd Ear Music would like to thank all those concerned for making this grant possible, but with special acknowledgement to Tom Gravlie of MMINO and the Norwegian Department of Arts & Culture who are doing so much for South African Arts & Culture; to the local MMINO co-ordinators Nicky du Plessis and Edgar Masuku; Ms Doreen Nteta the CEO of the NAC and to Edwin Sipho Rihlamvu and the NAC board & staff for their kind assistance over the past 2 years.
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 A rare recording of Poetry Africa 2000 that featured many of the world's celebrated contemporary Poets is soon to be issued by 3rd Ear Music. The event was produced for the Centre for Creative Arts (CCA) at the University of Natal, by Peter Rorvik - a tribute to the retiring Ad Donker - & 3rd Ear Music will issue a double CD-R featuring 12 international poets reciting poems about Durban - Roger McGough, Prof Pitika Ntuli, Nelson Mandela's Praise Poet Zolani Mkiva, USA Poet Laureate Rita Dove, Lisa Combrink, Dr Benjamin Obadiah Iqba Zephaniah & many others. Poetry Africa 2001 takes place at the Sneddon Theatre at the UND in May. Watch the press & this site for further details.
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