Joe Blog

The Polyrhythmic Ensemble

The ensemble was formed in 2023 to create new works based on research into contrapuntal and polyrhythmic African music. As part of a funding initiative by the National Arts Council, guitarist Reza Khota was commissioned to compose music based on his PhD research, specifically into West African guitar styles. Following the critical postcolonial framing of Kofi Agawu, the musical impulse follows the traces of modal African tonalities, such as the odonson form of palm wine guitar, as well as that of Mande electric guitar music in Guinea. Expanding further, the ensemble also looks to other contrapuntal forms such as the amadinda music of Uganda while incorporating these influences into a jazz ethos of improvisation and harmonic colouring.

Central to the ensemble’s ethos is a notion of contrapuntality as a generative method. The idea of interplay as a basis for generating new ideas is central to the emergence of new forms in African music. As opposed to the work of the individual composer, this a?rms a dialogic practice that is always in relation. Looking to other modes of engagement besides ethnomusicology, the contrapuntal method also draws on Edward Said’s thinking in reading empire from the periphery, advocating for a lateral encounter of cultures outside of the hangover of colonial taxonomies.

At the core of the ensemble is the patterning of two guitars. Playing in counterpoint with Khota is celebrated Jazz guitarist and composer Vuma Levin. The ensemble features compositions by the two guitarists. For the current tour supported by Concerts SA, the ensemble includes Sean Sanby on bass and Gontse Makhene on percussion.