LISTENING
TO THE GROUND is a story of a young man, who once in a dream was given
bones (amathambo wokwebhula) and lost them. Now he seeks to find them in
real life, he goes out to the wilderness to look but does not succeed,
to later find them in black and white of the piano keys (the ivories) to
which he was led to by his ancestors. Now he seeks ancestral codes to
use the ivories for healing. How do you connect and communicate with the
unseen? Sound is the answer.Nduduzo Makhathini
I give thanks for the light, love and guidance from above and from the ground. I give thanks for hope and time we get in space. Thokoza
It has been an amazing journey embarking on this project from its early stages. From a confusing dream I had as a teenager, at least about seventeen years ago this task was given to me. A gift was given so beautiful but yet difficult to access and difficult to understand.
This project is an ongoing journey of gratitude and appreciation of the gift of sound and healing through improvisation.
It is a tribute to the kind soil of Mother Africa that has given birth to all. This project has gone through many stages with different personnel, characters and because of its nature its still to be explored by so many artists in different configurations and disciplines. It is a poem, a story with a simple narrative ‘sound heals’ and this kind of narrative can be shared by many.
This chapter of the album recording was and is a very important one to me and to my calling as a means of sharing stories with even a greater audience. I am thankful and grateful to everyone that has been involved in the process that led to now since the project was conceived.
Many thanks to my ancestors oMnyandu, oNgubane, oMphemba, oSibiya, oMadlala, oShange, oMakhathini, oMchunu ngithi kini thokozani nanko umhlatselo wenu.
To the musicians, family, friends, photographers, painters, poets, performance spaces, engineers, supporters and everyone involved.
ONLY THROUGH A GREAT UNDERSTANDING OF WHERE WE COME FROM, WE SHALL KNOW WHO WE ARE AND WHERE WE ARE GOING
Isa’Ngoma
BIG LOVE
