Mac McKenzie has always pushed the boundaries of Goema, the rhythmic groove at the heart of Cape Town’s carnival culture. During the 80s, he injected defiance into the idiom with The Geniunes, creating lightning-speed Rock arrangements and the resistance anthem “Struggle.” In 2002, Mac guided Goema into a more refined arena with The Goema Captains of Cape Town, cloaking the Cape vibe in Cool Jazz. Now Mac’s back with an orchestra to boot! Steering Goema into Classical territory, Mac McKenzie has assembled The Cape Town Goema Orchestra to showcase a composition entitled “Goema Symphony No. 1.”

Goema Orchestra Media (PDF, 220K) | Flyer (JPG)

Jou Ma Se Goema (Afrikaans Pronunciation: /joʊ mɑː sə ɡʊmə/, English: Your Mother’s Goema, Spanish: De Goema Madre, Portuguese: A Goema da tua Mãe) is a multinational documentary film produced by Ángela Ramirez (Colombia), Sara Gouveia (Portugal) and Calum MacNaughton (South Africa). The film is currently in post-production.
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Cape Town came about as a result of its location and the subsequent historic forces that were visited upon it. What emerged is a city with cultural and linguistic characteristics drawn from the disparate influences of Western Europe, Maritime Southeast Asia and Southern Africa (amongst others).

While Cape Town’s musicians take inspiration from the natural wonders that surround them, they inhabit an African city in the process of negotiating how it projects itself to the rest of the world. A place of musical diversity, modern Cape Town seeks to rise above tolerance to pursue meaningful cultural integration. This challenge is reflected in Cape Town’s oldest manifestation of authentic musical culture, the Coon Carnival.

The Carnival’s rhythm, Goema, initially a term describing the drums used in the minstrel parades and subsequently the name of the characteristic Cape beat that emerged from these drums, was adopted as a Cape Jazz idiom in the 20th century and has been interpreted through Rock, Hip-Hop and Lounge in recent times. Modern usage of the word reflects a growing re-appraisal of Coon culture and a new movement that defines Cape Town’s “sound” by the inventive blending of cultural influences.

Profoundly South African has undergone a purge and a facelift. Old posts have been deleted but selected writings from the early years (2007-09) are now available in this handy highlights PDF:

Profoundly South African (2007-09)