A 36-artist music tribute to the work of legendary South African poet Ingrid Jonker
Jonel Scholtz painted the portrait of Ingrid Jonker used on the sleeve of the LP and CD published in commemoration of one of Ingrid Jonker's legendary Poems - Die Kind is nog Jonger
The beautiful ocean cover art was painted by renowned South African artist Vernon Swart.
"Die Kind Is Nog Jonger" - translated: "The Child Is Still Younger"
Ingrid Jonker is one of South Africa's most celebrated (and tragic) poets.
With the 50th commemoration of her untimely death in 1965 (committing suicide by drowning), her daughter is spearheading an exciting music project to not only reinvigorate Ingrid's timeless words, but also preserving it via a wide range of artists and their brand new song recordings exclusive to this collection.
Ingrid Jonker's passion, humanity, expression and grasp of language speaks volumes across many divides, with her words still as relevant and moving today:
> Nelson Mandela read from her poem "Die Kind" (The Child) and talked about her during his address at the opening of the first democratically elected parliament on 24 May 1994;
> The success of Chris Chameleon's first Afrikaans album "Ek Herhaal Jou" consisted entirely of lyrics from her poems and contributed to its success and having him break into that market (2005);
> "Black Butterflies" is an acclaimed international autobiographic film on her life, released in 2011;
> 2015 one of the seven footbridges crossing Nelson Mandela boulevard in Cape Town were named after Ingrid Jonker;
> 2015 and 2016 has seen various plays linked to Jonker, and "Vlam In Die Sneeu" (Flame In The Snow) was published, a book containing the love letters between Ingrid Jonker and acclaimed writer André P. Brink.
Ingrid's daughter Simone and her husband Ernesto Garcia Marques of Sound Action, conceived a musical dedication to Jonker with this compilation of musical adaptations by a wide range of hand-picked South African and international artists, titled "Die Kind Is Nog Jonger" (The Child Is Still Younger).
New life is breathed into Jonker's moving, lyrical, inspiring, dramatic and passionate words, by a diverse range of musicians, including veterans, established artists, imports, expatriates, award winners and some newcomers; the adaptations covering an invigorating scope of styles and moods, from Pop, Rock, Acoustic and Blues, to Folk, Ambient, Avant Garde, Electronic, Alternative, Punk and more.
Mastered by Peter Pearlson, this 36-track double CD collection is the most comprehensive collaboration of musicians guided by the emotionally powerful poetry of Ingrid Jonker, and is not limited to Afrikaans, as many of the artist renditions are English translations, broadening the scope and reach of this release.
Some of the 3-dozen artists include Afrikaans legends like Anton Goosen, struggle era stalwarts Kalahari Surfers, Ivan Kadey (of National Wake), Falling Mirror and Jennifer Ferguson, expatriates Tribe After Tribe (USA) and Juliana Venter (Germany), Voëlvry era bands like Die Naaimasjiene, Gereformeerde Blues Band & Khaki Monitor's Tonia Möller, and Dirk Ace (whose Trippy Grape went on to release a slew of bands), The Sighs Of Monsters (UK), Dutch harpist Anne Van Schothorst, SAMA winners like Lark's Inge Beckmann (also of Beast), Somerfaan (also of Battery 9), and Francois Breytenbach Blom (known for bands K.O.B.U.S. / V.O.D / Die Kruis - with special guest Theo Crous also of K.O.B.U.S. and the Springbok Nude Girls).
There are historic '70s and '80s heroes The Radio Rats and Wilde Junge (aka Wild Youth), acclaimed groups like Terminatryx, The SlashDogs, The Rambling Bones, (Moodphase5ive's) Ernestine Deane, and Jim Neversink (now residing in Denmark), with the rest of the impressive artists encapsulating Tim Parr & Ingrid Jonger (aka Simone), Daniel Eeuwrick, (feat. Piet Botha), Beeskraal Revival, André Van Rensburg, mike dickman, Victor Wolf, The CapTn (feat. Julie Hartley), Eckard Potgieter, Mavis Vermaak, Stefan Strydom & Gert Vlok Nel, Zaria, The McClones, Abraham Van GeenBybel, and Andrew Kay.
(Several of the songs incorporate spoken word archive recordings of Ingrid Jonker reading her poems).
Beyond the historic, literary and artistic significance of this anthology, it is also a capsule of current and past musicians (spanning generations from the '70s to present), fusing new music with timeless words from over half a century ago, melding into new creations allowing both to live on, transcending time constraints, new art created as a result (preserving language, culture and history).
In addition to the double CD and download release options aimed at a late-May release date, and a limited edition vinyl LP version released in conjunction with Permanent Record.
