From Hugh Tracey’s field notes:
Ikostina - The Concertina (Xhosa/Ngqika - recorded in 1957)
Party song, with clapping. Group of young Xhosa girls. Nontshinga Location, Kentani District, Transkei, Eastern Cape.
The girls who sang this song belonged to a group in the community half way between the sophisticated Christians who have been to school and broken away from their background, and the so called "Red blanket people", those who, retain their African religion and customs including the red ochre coloured blankets, cosmetics and beads. They have been to school for a short while, wear European style clothes as far as possible and while falling short of the standards of the better educated consider themselves above and apart from the 'reds' who although 'un-schooled' are elegant in their traditional dress and beadwork.
Sampled by DJ Khalab on 'Beating Heart - South Africa' -
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With kind permission from the International Library of African Music, Beating Heart works with artists to sample and remix Hugh Tracey's incredible archive. Proceeds from the South Africa album support gender equality in South Africa through the Women’s Legal Centre, as well as helping to teach music production skills to kids at Grahamstown’s Access Music Project.
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