Author Description

"Soweto Blues springs from the voices of dozens of South African jazzmen and women who lived through the apartheid years. From well-known international figures like Hugh Masekela to the neighborhood heroes of small communities, the book uses the testimony of musicians to describe how apartheid impacted on the lives of ordinary (and sometimes extraordinary) people and how the struggle against it inspired their music. One musician tells of the young Nelson Mandela jiving in township dancehalls; another recalls the nightmare drive home from a rehearsal through the blood and teargas of the Soweto uprising."--BOOK JACKET.