Les Javan

The Old Way - Leslie Javan

This is one of the tracks off my album: "Echoes from Eridu". 
I composed this music over a three year period after having reoccurring dreams about old civilizations that resembled Sumer (Mesopotamia) and Egypt. To this day I have no explanation for the dreams, apart from the fact that I composed about 33 different compositions that sounded different to everything else I wrote prior to this. This period changed a lot of my thinking around music and composition. "Song for Nephtys" is dedicated to the Egyptian goddess Nephtys, sister of Isis and Osiris and sister/wife to Seth. 

Song For Nephtys - Leslie Javan (2007)

Van die album af - "Ouma se kind" 2016. Die tune is al in 2010 geskryf en gaan oor mense en dinge in die Groot Drakenstein en n koerant berig wat ek gelees het in Die Son, op daai skynheilige winderige Maandag more. 

Vanaand - Leslie Javan

This song is about my foster parents Aunty Katriena and Oom Frans. They took in this little baby and cared for him. Saw that, at age 3 he liked to sing and got him into music classes and singing in church from age 4 and a harmonica at age 5. From age 6 classical piano and the rest is history. When my daughter Jodi and I lived for two magical years in Tulbagh, we had a little Jack Russel called Groovy, or "Ouboet", as I called him eventually. He always used to come into the room when I record and on this day decided to sing for his supper. He sadly died soon after this in a dog fight. Those were the best days of our lives.  

Antie Katriena En Oom Frans - Leslie Javan

Woorde: Tradisioneel en C.J. LANGENHOVEN: Vers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Musiek: S.A. Volkswysie; verwerk: H. PIETER VAN DER WESTHUIZEN, Die liedjie se woorde word deur sommige as omstrede beskou, omdat dit oppervlakkig ontleed klink of 'n kind vermoor word. Dit het gissings laat ontstaan dat dit moontlik een van Louis Leipoldt se gedigte is wat oor die dood van kinders in die konsentrasiekampe handel.[2]

Verskeie verduidelikings is egter hierteen aangebied, onder andere dat die woorde "siem bamba" Xhosa vir "ons vang hom" is. In die konteks verwys dit na 'n slang (of iets wat gevang word, en dus gevaar of onheil versinnebeeld) en dan vermorsel word.[3]

Volgens die Etimologiewoordeboek van Afrikaans is die woord waarskynlik ’n samestelling van Portugees: sim, ‘ja’ en bamba, ‘dans, spring, ophang’, of minder waarskynlik Xhosa, ukubamba ‘gryp, vang, vashou’ of Zoeloe, bamba ‘vat, gryp’ of Zoeloe, isibamba, ‘veselgordel’, of dalk bloot ’n klankmatige woord wat ’n wiegbeweging suggereer.

Die liedjie is tot in die 19de eeu gesing as "Sie(n) mamba, mama se kindjie", wat weereens na 'n slang (die bose, onheil, gevaar) verwys. Die woorde “sien die mamba" het later siembamba in die volksmond geword, soos dit vandag algemeen bekend staan.[4]

Die eerste verwysing na die liedjie is in Joan van Niekerk se Die groot Afrikaanse-Hollandse liederbundel wat in 1927 verskyn het. Die oorsprong daarvan is egter nie gedokumenteer nie. Tien jaar later het dit in die eerste FAK-sangbundel verskyn.[5]

Les Javan

Zsolt Nyiri