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LINER NOTESSince AMANDLA's debut into the international arena of performing arts, the press of countries miles and miles apart speak with one voice on the impact these full-time members of the African National Congress leave on their audiences. Here, we can only give some samples: Sweden's Kjell-Ake Olsson wrote: "to see and listen to AMANDLA... is to experience an aesthetic explosion. An explosion of colour and rythms, of happiness and optimism... It is exactly a question of artistic skill... They perform with a precision of tone, purity and strength, which completely absorbes you." In Tanzania, Gerald Shundi seemed to reflect majority opinion in his conclusions: "It has. since become very difficult for me to find the right words of praise to match their performance. What they showed us was nothing short of fantastic — the way they danced, the way the sang and acted, their music. Everything they did was marvellously perfect. It really made us proud of what we are AFRICANS." There was yet another victim of AMANDLA's pleasurable, immeasurably real onslaught in Zambia Daily Mail’s cultural correspondent. His observation... "Those who saw the ensemble's polished and co-ordinated two-hour repertoire of the story of the struggling people's of South Africa... will agree that this performance is one of the most outstanding shows ever staged by a foreign group for a long time... They demonstrated clearly the role of the art's in the political and cultural revolution of a people." Far away in the Soviet Union, Vyacheslava Teyokhin mirrored in his summation some of the thoughts reflected in reviews from Mozambique to the Federal Republic of Germany, from Norway to Angola, from Bulgaria to Finland, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic, Denmark and the Netherlands: "The importance of this ensemble transcends customary notions of ordinary commercial groups... Even specialists find it difficult to precisely define the phenomenon of AMANDLA. Those terms that are closest to expressing its essence include "Political Theatre" and "Revolutionary song and dance ensemble"... The impact of its ideas is strengthened by the skill of the performers." Truly, this record can only be a hint, a memory, perhaps a little taste of AMANDLA. Recorded live at the Old Swedish Musical Academy, Stockholm, in October 1980 directly on 2 tracks stereo. Treatment: AV-elektronik Technician: Gosta Konneback Recording Engineer: Gerth Palmcrantz Cover design, layout: Peter Widen Producer: Afrogram for the African National Congress (SA) Production: African National Congress, ANC (SA) Distribution: African National Congress (SA) P.O. Box 2073 S-103 12 Stockholm, Sweden Tel. 08-2 l 33 75 and Afrogram © & ® 1983 African National Congress of South Africa All rights reserved Afrogram is the record label of the Africa Groups of Sweden Bamangsgatan 23 S-116 41 Stockholm, Sweden tel. 08-4018 21 |
AMANDLA
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TRACK LISTING
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ARTISTS
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NOTESThis LP was the second of two Swedish releases featuring Amandla, part of the ANC's cultural arm in exile. Shirli Gilbert has an excellent essay on Mayibuye and Amandla in the book COMPOSING APARTHEID—Music For and Against Apartheid, edited by Grant Olwage. View Matsuli's listing here for more information about the group. |
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