‘Playing the Changes: Jazz at an African University and on the Road’, authored by Darius and Catherine Brubeck, covers a significant passage in South African history (1983–2006) and the transformative effect of jazz at university and at large.
World famous jazz pianist, author and educator, Darius Brubeck joined the staff of the University of KwaZulu-Natal (former University of Natal) in 1983, as a Lecturer in Music with a mission to introduce Jazz Studies.
The book published by the University of KwaZulu-Natal Press (2023), is a memoir of Darius and Catherine’s time in South Africa, replete with anecdotes and adventures, in part a double biography and a one-off story. The memoir recovers the rich history of many musicians who kept jazz alive inside the country, but whose stories were never visible to the wider world.
From their invented base, the now Centre for Jazz and Popular Music at UKZN, they managed and organised numerous bands, concerts and tours around the world. They were ahead of the ‘transformation’ curve, with their many improvised solutions to social, legal and administrative challenges. ‘Playing the Changes’ is richly detailed with insider knowledge, information the authors provide from their own papers and lived experiences. Together they underline what a remarkable project they carried off.
Darius and Cathy leave a legacy of having launched the first jazz studies course in the country and nurtured its growth into an established university centre that was ripe for handing over to South African teachers.
The book is also complimented by a documentary film by Michiel ten Kleij (Red Cloak Films) completed in 2023, entitled Playing the Changes: Tracking Darius Brubeck.
In the documentary, Darius reflects on his life, career and the success of the student ensembles, highlighting his part in a music department that stood at the forefront of cultural opposition to apartheid, and became a flagship anticipating the ‘new’ South Africa. It follows Darius and Cathy during anniversary tours in South Africa as well as in Poland, the latter country being where Darius at age 10 made his first appearance on stage.
The film explores what it is like to grow up as a jazz musician in a turbulent time of racial segregation in the US, political tension during the Cold War and applying these experiences to living and teaching in South Africa.
The film is currently on the Festival circuit worldwide and has been screened in Johannesburg and Cape Town. It will be shown in Durban at the Centre for Jazz and Popular Music on September 5 at 17:30, under the auspices of The Music Imbizo.
The screening will be followed by a discussion session, in which three members of the Music staff i.e. Neil Gonsalves (chair), Professor Christopher Ballantine, and Dr Sazi Dlamini, will respond to audience questions and comments.
