The Center for Advanced Study and the University of Illinois Press hosted panelists Darius and Catherine Brubeck, who pioneered the first jazz education program in apartheid South Africa.
The Brubecks discussed their book, “Playing the Changes,” and a partner documentary that explored their experiences. It began with Darius Brubeck moving to South Africa and joining Catherine Brubeck at the University of Natal, leading to their involvement with the African National Congress and becoming anti-apartheid activists.
South African jazz scholar Colin Miller joined the Brubecks on a panel hosted Wednesday at the Spurlock Knight Auditorium.
In addition to reading the excerpts, the Brubecks also showed two brief clips from their documentary based on the same experiences, directed by Michiel ten Kleij.
Audience members laughed as the duo talked about their experiences in South Africa in the 1980s, particularly when Catherine Brubeck emphasized that her husband was designated as a “guerrilla” for their activism work.
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After the Brubecks read excerpts, they shared the mic with their longtime friend and jazz scholar, Miller. Miller spoke on the issues of apartheid and how it affected jazz music.
“There is an importance in institutional history, a lot of needs to be taught and we need to give that ability to the unknown voices,” Miller said. “I was into music across the color line, and jazz was resistance by Black musicians … then, Black musicians had to perform behind curtains.”
After Miller made his remarks, the panelists opened it up to questions. One attendee asked how the radio industry played a role in jazz in apartheid South Africa.
Catherine Brubeck pointed out that in South Africa, they separated the radios by genre. Jazz didn’t fit into any station category because it was inherently multicultural.
Another guest asked about how gender politics might play a role in jazz. The panelists weighed in on this issue, discussing how men have long dominated jazz.
“Women in jazz have traditionally been singers, a role that allows them to be dismissed as entertainers who are not fundamental to jazz as ‘serious’ art,” said a music feature on women in jazz for NPR. “Few female instrumentalists — or, for that matter, composers, arrangers and bandleaders — have become part of the music’s story, one that stretches back to the late 19th century.”
The speakers highlighted this issue. They also spoke about wanting change and the importance of hiring female jazz musicians in their bands.
Music students and department members came out to learn more about the Brubecks and their work.
“I was not familiar with the situation,” said Jorge L. Mercado Méndez, a graduate student studying musicology. “I was not familiar with the music in South Africa. It was all new knowledge. I took away the ideas of music, how music from another part of the world gets its meaning, and how that meaning shifts depending on who you’re talking to.”
The event was part of a week-long residency for the Brubecks in Champaign. Their visit also included a performance of Darius Brubeck’s band at Krannert and a jazz masterclass.
