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LINER NOTESADDITIONAL NOTES Extract from African Stars by Veit Erlmann (University of Chicago Press, 1991, p.92) "The dilemma is exemplified by the career of William Mseleku, one of Durban's younger black entertainers during the late 1930s and perhaps one of Caluza's most promising disciples. A Mariannhill graduate and Amanzimtoti teacher, Mseleku had been experimenting with traditional dance and music genres tied together in a coherent stage presentation from at least 1932. Mseleku was born in 1912 near Amanzimtoti, and like many of his contemporaries was rooted both in Western traditions and Zulu rural and semiurban styles. William's musical socialization took place with the help of a homemade tin guitar before he took up violin and saxophone. In 1932 Mseleku formed a group of musicians and actors, variously called Amanzimtoti Players, Amanzimtoti Zulu Choir, or Mseleku 's Party. The troupe recorded almost thirty records for His Master's Voice and consisted of Mseleku's siblings Mavis and Alfred, his wife Elvira, and the students Victor Khumalo, Siberia Chamane, Raymond Dladla, Alzena Sishi, and Lulu Msome. In 1935 the group was renamed the Amanzimtoti Royal Entertainers, and recorded further records for Gallo (GE 135-38). Despite Mseleku's popularity, Durban's black community could not support a group like the Amanzimtoti Royal Entertainers on a professional basis. Typically, Mseleku's Royal Entertainers tried to solve the problem by constantly locating new audiences of diverse social backgrounds and by negotiating the whole range of musical styles available at the time. While most other black entertainers never left the orbit of the mission schools to become semiprofessional entertainers, Mseleku combined tours of the white coastal resort hotels with concerts to raise funds for his studies in England. Performances by Mseleku's troupe featured sketches, action songs, and "ragtime" songs of the Caluza variety coupled with choreography [...] As an active ANC member, Mseleku also enlarged the repertoire of "sweet, patriotic songs" with tunes such as "Izizwe Ezimnyama" (The Black Nation) and "Vulani amaSango maDoda" (Open Up the Gates, Men). Like Caluza he also harbored strong proroyal feelings, and ethnic nostalgia is evident in songs such as "Umukile uSolomon " (Solomon Has Disappeared) and "UTshaka " (Shaka). However, among Mseleku's innovations one must also credit the popularization of Zulu yodeling. From the late 1920s Durban's record shops carried numerous Jimmie Rodgers records on the Zonophone label. In 1932 William and his brother Wilfred recorded some songs directly modeled on Rodgers' "Blue Yodel" series of songs (HMV, GU 80)." |
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