Konsert: Sani Gamedze med sitt album “Colour me over”

I Sani, being the youngest member of the Gamedze household had no access to the prized family loom – our record player. This mahogany bookcase looking contraption was the one precious thing “the holy of holiest” to be touched only by the high priests – that is to say those tall enough to reach it. Content to sit at its feet and wait for someone to come by, pick out a record from our rather impressive collection, slip the LP out of its sleeve, clean it with the velvet rubbing thingy and gently place it within, and with steady hand place the needle, ever so carefully, and let the magic begin. This wonderful gadget, from its exulted position turned our home into some sort of harmonic paradise of sound. All kinds of sound, gospel, jazz, fusion, disco, classical music, we had it all.
(In later years when I started school – I learnt we didn’t have pop records in our collection, but this knowledge came later and by the time it did I didn’t care for I had heard the rainbow in all its colors.)
Many times the house grew still and quiet with family members engrossed in their books, homework newspapers encyclopedias. I who could not read it that time, could only look up longingly at the “holy of holies” with hopeless, hungry ears, a starving creature with only the sounds of boring dusty pages turning
Many years later (after school, university, first and second job as nutritionist and home economics teacher respectively), I made a conscious decision to sing and only sing. Moving from Swaziland (fatherland) back to (motherland) South Africa, I was lucky, exceedingly so. I was able to sing for a living through TV and radio commercials. This paid my bills while jazz clubs in Johannesburg fed my soul.
Contracts to far and distant lands- such as Dubai, Hong Kong, Amsterdam, Sweden, England and other such exotic places-(these places were exotic from my African perspective). Music made all kinds of things possible. I got to play in all kinds of places, with a range of musicians and for the widest of audience.
I have since been involved as guest artist on other project both in South Africa and Europe recording House music, acid jazz and South African jazz. I even got to write songs together with the late Jan Strinnholm on an album we called “The democracy of jazz”. With his music and my lyrics this album makes for melodically sound jazz. I got to be the Bond girl on a 007 jazz rendition thanks to Sweden’s Daniel Lantz. But, after having lost so many near and dear ones I felt the need to record an album whose sole purpose is to carry one over the grieving process. Mourning the passing of significant individuals takes all the colours away. They fade out to a nondescript haze, a washed out state of mind. I needed songs to navigate me back to colour.
I found myself recalling the songs that filled our family home, songs that held some energy of emotional weight that I have likened to and associated with colour. The violence of violet, the isolation of indigo, the brooding of blue the goodness of green, the youth of yellow, the optimism of orange, and the recklessness of red. I realized I did not have to write any new song. These songs already exist “colourmeover” is a compilation of covers that have covered me in my naked hour when I have stood stripped of colour washed out. “Colourmeover” is a collection of songs, multi coloured worry beads carefully collected for the sole purpose of restoring sanity.