Mantswe

Mantswe is the South African Sotho word for ‘voices’, and that is exactly what you get in this hour-long foot-tapping spiritual journey through the heart of South African music.

MELBOURNE FRINGE 2009

Theatreworks, St Kilda
Gumbination Productions
Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Mantswe is the South African Sotho word for ‘voices’, and that is exactly what you get in this hour-long foot-tapping spiritual journey through the heart of South African music.

This all-female acapella group is the brainchild of Victorian producer Veronica Mansueto and her South African born partner Sello Molefi. All songs performed are written and arranged by the incredibly multi-talented Molefi, bringing an air of African authenticity to what the group says is “music about spirituality and feeling”.

Having visited South Africa myself, most of these songs brought back vivid memories of walking through townships and hearing small groups sporadically break into song – perhaps to break their boredom, perhaps to simply express their joy in life – who knows? But you needn’t have visited this part of the world to necessarily appreciate what this genre of music is about; especially when the inspiration behind Molefi’s writing is briefly explained in the program for us.

Despite some initial nerves among the five singers, they settled quickly, and proved their incredible trust in each other by not relying too much upon Molefi’s conducting and letting themselves go with the flow of the music. They kept together on most occasions, where earthy and experimental sounds revealed themselves in songs such as the jazzy bebop-sounding ‘Doo Wee Doo’ and the soulful ‘Hold On’, reminiscent of a black slavery anthem.

The real highlight for me was when Molefi himself joined in. Its not often you hear one male voice against the sound of five female ones, and Molefi’s real skill here was to blend in as the sixth member of the vocal ensemble for several of the songs. His accompaniment really added something extra – and I’d love to hear more of what he can do. Mantswe is a group with a bright future ahead of them, and if they continue to be led by Mansueto and Molefi I have no doubt that will be the case.