{"id":93494,"date":"2021-12-02T13:48:24","date_gmt":"2021-12-02T11:48:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/?p=93494"},"modified":"2021-12-02T13:48:31","modified_gmt":"2021-12-02T11:48:31","slug":"one-night-in-pelican","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/one-night-in-pelican\/","title":{"rendered":"One Night in Pelican: when Soweto was the live music hub"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The British-South African label Matsuli Music unveils a compilation retracing the incredible story of Club Pelican, a 70s underground Soweto club that brought jazz, funk and soul to new heights.&nbsp;<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>A night-time haunt in the backstreets of Soweto run by a well-known bootlegger should have been a prime zone for nefarious activities. Instead, it nurtured an underground music hub of a different kind, leaving a remarkable legacy. Soon after its opening in 1973, located in Orlando East, Soweto, Club Pelican became a spot where South African jazz musicians began to cook up experimental sounds inspired by the movements in funk and soul from the West. This was Soweto\u2019s first night club.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c<em>All the great guys came there<\/em>\u201d, says one-time house band member, saxophonist Khaya Mahlangu. \u201c<em>From tenor saxophonist Mankunku, to The Drive horn player Mike Makhalemele, saxophonist Barney Rachabene<\/em> [&#8230;]<em> &#8211; all the&nbsp; big guys used to come here<\/em>\u201d.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<iframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=1017676759\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/tracklist=false\/artwork=small\/transparent=true\/\" seamless=\"\" loading=\"lazy\"><a href=\"https:\/\/matsulimusic.bandcamp.com\/album\/one-night-in-pelican\">One Night in Pelican by Various Artists<\/a><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>While the house bands changed names and formations, it seems like the Afro Pedlars held court for much of the Pelican\u2019s existence, from the mid to late 70s. \u201c<em>Friday and Saturday the band played their own material<\/em>\u201d, says Afro Pedlars veteran Mahlangu. \u201c<em>We\u2019d play jazz standards<\/em> [&#8230;] <em>for like two hours. After that, we\u2019d mix it up with groovy stuff because it\u2019s a nightclub.<\/em> [&#8230;] <em>We had to learn the material from Tuesdays. You can imagine, in a week, memorising an average of 30 songs!<\/em>\u201d.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lorded over by a charismatic figure known as Lucky Michaels, the club boasted a diverse pool of talent in its succession of house bands, singers and cabaret stars. <em>One Night in Pelican<\/em> captures the halcyon seventies period with a single nightclub embodying an indomitable spirit of its troubadour players. While schooled and rooted in \u201cstandards\u201d and local forms, the&nbsp; music could take any direction at a moment\u2019s notice. This compilation features all the key groups and players of the time: Abacothozi, Almon Memela\u2019s Soweto, The Black Pages, Dick Khoza and the Afro Pedlars, The Drive, Ensemble of Rhythm and Art, The Headquarters, Makhona Zonke Band, the Shyannes and Spirits Rejoice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/matsulimusic.bandcamp.com\/album\/one-night-in-pelican\" target=\"_blank\">One Night in Pelican<\/a><\/em>, out on December 6 via <a href=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/tag\/matsuli-music\/\">Matsuli Music<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1010\" height=\"1010\" src=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/one-night-in-pelican-1010x1010.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-93496\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/one-night-in-pelican-1010x1010.jpg 1010w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/one-night-in-pelican-759x759.jpg 759w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/one-night-in-pelican-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/one-night-in-pelican-661x661.jpg 661w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/one-night-in-pelican-465x465.jpg 465w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/one-night-in-pelican-375x375.jpg 375w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/one-night-in-pelican-200x200.jpg 200w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/one-night-in-pelican-85x85.jpg 85w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/one-night-in-pelican-73x73.jpg 73w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/one-night-in-pelican.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(min-width:1010px) 759px,100vw\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The British-South African label Matsuli Music unveils a compilation retracing the incredible story of Club Pelican, a 70s underground Soweto club that brought jazz, funk and soul to new heights.&nbsp; A night-time haunt in the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":93497,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3944],"tags":[25160,23842,28302,23807],"location":[7844],"yst_prominent_words":[9190,23010,9178,8414,28192,18740,8402,31559],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93494"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93494"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93494\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93494"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=93494"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=93494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}