释义 |
marabi, n. S. Afr. Mus.|məˈrɑːbi| Also Maraba, Marabi, maraba. [Etym. disputed: perh. f. the name of Marabastad, a township in Pretoria + -i2. Other commentators have derived the term from the Sotho ho raba raba, lit. ‘to fly around’ (supposedly a reference to the accompanying dance), or from the Sotho lerabi (pl. Marabi), a slang term meaning ‘criminal, gangster’. For a fuller discussion see D. B. Coplan In Township Tonight (1985) 94–5.] A style of popular music, originating in the townships of Pretoria during the 1930s, with a keyboard- (and usu. brass-)dominated sound which reflects the strong influence of both ragtime and indigenous folk musics; also, the dance associated with this music.
1941W. N. B. Nhlapo in Bantu World 15 Mar. 9 The Jazz Maniacs..were regarded as a ‘marabi’ or ‘Tsaba-Tsaba’ band. 1945P. Abrahams Song of City 73 The tom-tom beat of the Maraba..danced away the seething bitterness that is attendant with repression. 1948O. Walker Kaffirs are Lively xi. 178 Children scavenge the streets, learning the lore of the faro-dens, marabi beer-drink dances, the prostitutes' hide-outs. 1973M. Dikobe Marabi Dance i. 2 George..was the pianist at the Marabi parties run by Ma-Ndlovu which were very popular but not favoured by respectable people. 1992Jazz No. 12. 56/2 The learned elements of style and arrangement are applied to indigenous material, such as the repetitive marabi progressions that would flow through ‘township jive’ into the sax-dominated instrumentals of the Seventies and Eighties. |