South African Township (Mbaqanga) bass cover - picking style! ep. #17 Makgona Tsohle Band

A bit of a classic that has become a standard of the genre. The Makgona Tsohle Band was the backing band for Mahlathini and Mahotella Queens and featured the legendary Marks Mankwane on guitar and, on this recording, West Nkosi on alto saxophone. 1960s South Africa found the Zulu and Sotho beginning to incorporate the influences of African American R&B, jazz, and blues into their traditional, indigenous music. New styles such as township jazz, pennywhistle street music, Kwela, and marabi were formed. Eventually, these myriad styles coalesced to create a new hybrid pop music that came to be known as mbaqanga. Though mbaqanga uses the traditional instrumentation of Western pop (guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, and vocals), the approach to song structure and rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic phrasing is distinctly South African. The bass guitar lines follow very much in the rich tradition of choral singing, emulating the bass voice in a choir. Original source: Last FM The bass: Fender Precision, 1970 Thanks for watching. Please like and subscribe if you enjoy my videos. Blessings to all. #SouthAfricanMusic #basscover #MarksMankwane