It is possible that the audience at the concert of Bantu Continua Uhuru Consciousness will be at a loss at times. After all, the band from Soweto sings and raps in all eleven official languages of South Africa. The fact that the seven women and men have a lot to say is not only clearly noticeable in the English passages: they raise social problems and give powerless marginalized groups, especially the indigenous ones, a voice – just like their role models James Brown and Fela Kuti .
The average 15-minute pieces, with call-and-response vocals, hypnotic bass, driving percussion, jazz finesse and punk rock energy, are political, but they are also spiritual experiences, and not least “fun”, as they say, “a hedonistic trance”. The musicians, who began in a shipping container near the church where Desmond Tutu coordinated anti-apartheid actions, were honored with the prestigious Womex world music prize in 2023 for their “all-encompassing musical philosophy.” They have brought the diversity of the townships to the biggest festivals from Roskilde to Glastonbury. The Kammerspiele are bringing this “Afro-psychedelic future pop” to Munich for the first time as part of the Black Future Weeks for a not at a loss, but restless concert evening.
Bantu Continua Uhuru Consciousness, Sat. March 9, 8 p.m. Munich Chamber Games