Spice Drum Beat - Ghoema

Synopsis

Delving deep into Cape Town's early slave history, when the Dutch first settled in South Africa, Spice Drum Beat transforms both old and recent Cape musical history into a highly entertaining and theatrical experience. Enjoy the beat of the spice drum in this vibrant fusion of original song by Kramer & Petersen and folk songs that evolved more than a hundred and fifty years ago in Cape Town.

Our Review:

12 December 2006

If you feel like a celebratory evening out but would like to escape the Christmas rollercoaster for a couple of hours, you could do worse than drop in at the Tricycle. Forget Santa, forget panto puns and join an exuberant South African ensemble in what is in essence a historical concert.

The idea may sound suspiciously “educational”, and it’s true that the material between musical explosions is presented simply by the two women of the group, Zenobia Kloppers and Carmen Maarman. But the story they have to tell is so far from a Western idea of African cliché, the music so rhythmic and the musicians so accomplished and energetic that every last fact slips down painlessly.

The four words which make up the title encapsulate the history of South African Cape Coloured music. The Portuguese rounded the Cape en route to the East in search of costly spices. A hundred years later the Dutch followed, but established a place for recuperation - scurvy was rife - on the African co...

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Latest User Review

194.50.118.230) - 14 December 2006:

Really kwaai. Go and see it!!...

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