TITI Luzipo brings her Songs My Mother Taught Me tour to the Western Cape this month together with Concerts SA. The production is a celebration of the songs she learnt from her mother, Vuyelwa Qwesha.
“It has always been my dream to relive my mother’s songbook while she is still alive so that she may witness the wealth I have through her,” she says. “It was then that I realised that I am my mother. She is my future and I am her past. Her songbook had become alive again and has helped many others realise their inner melodies. Her song book has become a living legacy.”
For this leg of her tour, she will perform at The Crypt, KwaSec, Moholo Live House, and Straight No Chaser. She will be joined on stage by Ludwe Danxa on piano, Sibusiso Matsimela on bass, as well as a couple of Capetonian drummers.
She will perform at The Crypt in Wale Street on July 29 at 8pm; at Moholo Live House in Harare Square, Khayelitsha, on July 30 at 3pm; and at KwaSec in Gugulethu on July 31 at 3pm.
A special performance on Saturday at 8.30pm at Straight No Chaser in Station Road, Observatory, will feature her brother Barlo Luzipo on piano and vocals. The evening will showcase the emotional bond between siblings as they perform the songs they learnt from their mother. They will open the floor to the audience for questions and will share more of their musical family’s history.
“My mother was not as liberated as I am. She had no freedom. The apartheid regime limited their expressions in song and resulted in scarce performances. The aim of Songs My Mother Taught Me is to bring alive those songs which could not be sung and relive the moments shared by those before us and celebrate them as heritage,” Luzipo says.
Her mother came to fame in the 1970s as lead singer of The Soul Jazzmen, which featured the likes of the late Zim Ngqawana, Winston Mankunku Ngozi, Feya Faku, Tete Mbambisa and many others.
“When she realised that I was starting to take after her musically she taught me all the songs she used to sing in her days. This was the beginning of great things for me — I couldn’t understand the melody at the time, but it spoke to the sentiments of my heart.”
She explains that the show highlights a great cultural wealth. “I’ve always had a heart for South African music and celebrating the legacy and heritage thereof. That is the aim and the reason why I would like to grow it further: the education in the South African music history. Whilst researching my mother’s favourite tunes and those she sang in her day, I started to equip myself in knowledge of this music and have always had the desire to share it with an audience. I have absorbed great rich information that could be celebrated and known by generations to come.”
She also aims to hold workshops for people from disadvantaged areas, to empower them by sharing her knowledge.
Luzipo’s tour is supported by the Music Mobility Fund, a funding mechanism administered by Concerts SA which assists South African musicians with going on tour. - Staff Writer
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