Soweto Soul

Soweto Soul pays tribute to the musical soul of the South African townships. In collaboration with South African artists the Dutch producer/guitarist Joep Pelt fuses music styles as Pennywhistle Jive, Hip-Hop, Mbaqanga and Kwaito. The result is a dynamic show that will move the crowd!

The idea of Soweto Soul was born when Joep Pelt visited South Africa in 2010 to make a radio documentary about the country’s music culture. As Joep struck up collaborations with Hammond organist Black Moses Ngwenya of the Mbaqanga group Soul Brothers and rapper Zulu Boy, it became clear to him that the musical dynasties were rarely in touch with each other. Also Joep found that many of the older musicians who he considered to be legendary, such as the country’s first electric bass player Joseph Makwela from the Makgona Tsohle Band or Pennywistle legend Lemmy Special, were virtually forgotten and unemployed.

Together with musicians from all corners of South Africa’s musical landscape, Joep wrote and recorded a series of songs that bring together different musical worlds from the townships. Soweto Soul brings you a new sound built on these traditions.

The creative process was followed and filmed by the filmmakers Bart Verhoeven and Jesse Bom and rendered into a full length documentary that tells the story of South Africa’s musical history through the Soweto Soul project. In the summers of 2016 and 2017 the Soweto Soul live band toured successfully through Europe, playing various festivals and venues. In May 2017 the Soweto Soul album and documentary were launched in the sold out concert hall Bimhuis in Amsterdam.