Africana Studies Faculty Affiliate Carol Muller has made an important contribution to the New York Times article "5 Minutes That Will Make You Love South African Jazz", put together by Giovanni Russonello. In the article, Professor Muller shares a song selection from artist Kyle Shepherd titled, “Cape Genesis: Slave Labor.” She wrote the following:
The pianist Kyle Shepherd’s 2012 album, “South African History !X,” interrogates Cape Town history, the South African past, and — considering what DNA technology tells us about the origins of humanity — our shared global history, through the sounds of the musical bow and Khoisan “click” languages. The track on “South African History !X” that best speaks to us in the present moment is “Cape Genesis: Slave Labor.” It opens with the fundamental pitches of Shepherd’s mouth bow, its overtones shaped into a high-pitched melody and then enveloped in the improvisations of Zim Ngqawana’s tenor saxophone, the drummer Jono Sweetman’s percussive timbral sounding, and Shane Cooper’s tender bass lines. The album connects back to the historic sounds of the pianist and bow player Hilton Schilder (of Goema Club); the free improvisation of Garth Erasmus; and the sounds we now call “Cape jazz,” created by many, including Abdullah Ibrahim, Sathima Bea Benjamin, Robbie Jansen, Muneeb Hermans and Ramon Alexander. Decolonizing South African history begins with listening closely to the contours of its improvised music, as it takes us back into a deep African past.