This is an updated and substantially expanded second edition of Christopher Ballantine’s classic study of the triumphs and tragedies of South Africa’s marabi-jazz tradition.

New chapters extend the book’s in-depth account of the birth and development of urban-black popular music. They include a powerful story about gender relations and music in the context of forced migrant labour in the 1950s, a critical study of the legendary Manhattan Brothers that uniquely positions their music and words in relation to the apartheid system, and an account of the musical, political and commercial strategies of the local record industry. A new afterword looks critically at the place of jazz and popular music in South Africa since the end of apartheid, and argues for the continued relevance of the robust, questioning spirit of the marabi tradition.

The book includes an illustrative CD of historic sound recordings that the author has unearthed and saved from oblivion.