A: AFROSPACE Interchange is a Naarm-based African outpost engaged in the research, development and manufacture of interstellar jazz.
At the centre of AFROSPACE Interchange’s sound is the extraordinary drummer Brian Abrahams, a living legend of South African Jazz, my mentor and a long time friend of my family. Exiled during Apartheid, Brian is an authentic and creative ambassador for this music abroad.
Even first time listeners will be drawn in by the spiritual and joyous effect of this music that relies on deceptively simple harmony around sophisticated yet danceable rhythms.
The calibre of musicianship amongst the group and the regular host of guests is brilliant, yielding fiery solos and exciting improvised interplay.
We generally tell stories around the meaning or history of the songs from the stage or perhaps an anecdote or two around our first hand intersection with this music and its originators.
AFROSPACE Interchange is a real-time cultural exchange between the South African and Australian jazz scenes.
We’re proud to perform music by composers from these countries. The ‘There’ side of our releases present music from the rich deep well of South African jazz while the ‘Here’ side showcases compositions by our own band members.
Our two year residency at Old Plates on Brunswick Street has created a community of musicians and fans that have been turned on to this music by raw exposure. Most had never heard South African Jazz before entering the room yet have left with a new favourite genre and a thirst to hunt it down online and abroad.
As the founder of The Public Opinion Afro Orchestra I witnessed the rise of afrobeat across Australian dancefloors over the last 18 years. I see that South African Jazz is beginning to have a similar moment; this is very exciting, since this music is still being created freshly on an industrial scale, back in Johannesburg, a city where Jazz has always been revered as hip and relevant.
Packing up at the end of the night I often hear a new fan say: “I thought I didn’t like jazz untill I heard this jazz.”
I grew up in Africa in a jazz family. I learnt to play on the bandstand, taught by my elders; jazz has become a spiritual language of love, hope and healing, it is a refuge from the harshness in life. It is never perfect, yet it seems to be the pinnacle of human achievement.
For many years I have been involved in music groups that present South African music to Australian audiences, often performing to audiences listening to this music for the first time without any reference or prior knowledge. I would often hear comments about how happy this music sounds!
While it is impossible to deny the joy within this music, the western association of the major key with happiness is perhaps a shallow generalisation. These African chord progressions will often underpin extraordinary expressions of grief, loss and sadness.
The album opener, ‘Weeping’ captures everything that this musical family has come to mean to me. This ’80s protest song, by double-denim-wearing boy band Bright Blue, has been rearranged by my sister, Fem Belling. It has long been a part of her live sets but never released until now. As we recorded this track, we could feel our late father Howard Belling in the room with us. We were all in tears by the end of the first take and that’s the one you hear on the record, featuring trombonist Callum Mintzis taking off midway through.
Today I am thinking about music from home: “There was a man, not so long time ago/ He was a man everybody knew/ He was great/ Well he could swing/ Lulu in Adderley Street.” A good friend and powerhouse vocalist Sandile Gontsana wrote lyrics to the song ‘Lulu in Adderley Street’ which was composed by the South African trumpet player Feya Faku. The lyrics that Sandile has added honour his uncle, the mighty South African drummer Lulu Gontsana in a simple yet powerful way. South Africa lost Lulu many years back and his long time collaborator Feya passed away suddenly only a few months ago. This track has become a personal tribute as I had the privilege of performing with both of these masters as a young musician.
I've been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate, a poet, a pawn and a king.
Also a father, a husband, a writer, an editor, a coffee addict, a type 1 diabetic and an expat.
Born and raised in Athens. Based in Melbourne.
Jazz is my country.
View all posts by Nikolas Fotakis [he/ him]
