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Kwela-kwela is the lively music of Cape Town, South Africa that originated in the 1950s, centering on the pennywhistle and fusing South African tribal/folk music of the 40s and 50s and the original music of Malawi, with plenty of reference to American jazz and the British skiffle music that itself was a revival of an American street jazz style of the 1920s.

The word kwela is usually translated from the Zulu as “get up,” and kwela-kwela was also common street slang for the police vans that descended regularly on the residents of the townships.  The young men who played the pennywhistle on street corners often served as lookouts to warn those enjoying themselves in the shebeens of the arrival of the police. Inside, the pennywhistle, augmented by horns, guitars, bass and drums, energized the dance music.

Jim Peterson, saxophone
Rolf Johnson, trumpet
Scott Foster, guitar
Dennis Criteser, guitar & vocals
Dan Foltz, drums