"Skokiaan" is a popular tune originally written by Zimbabwean musician August Musarurwa (d. 1968, usually identified as August Msarurgwa on record labels) in the Tsaba-tsaba big band-style that succeeded Marabi. Skokiaan (Chikokiyana in Shona) refers to an illegal self-made alcoholic beverage typically brewed over one day that may contain ingredients such as maize meal, water and yeast, to speed up the fermentation process. The tune has also been recorded as "Sikokiyana", "Skokiana", and "Skokian".
Within a year of its 1954 release in South Africa, at least 19 cover versions of "Skokiaan" appeared. The version made in the then-Southern Rhodesia reached No 17 in the United States, while a cover version by Ralph Marterie climbed to No. 3. All versions combined propelled the tune to No. 2 on the Cash Box charts that year. Its popularity extended outside of music, with several urban areas in the United States taking its name. Artists who produced their own interpretations include The Four Lads, Louis Armstrong, Bill Haley, Herb Alpert, Brave Combo, Hugh Masekela and Kermit Ruffins. The Wiggles also covered this song on their Furry Tales album. The music itself illustrates the mutual influences between Africa and the wider world.
History
Rhodesia (Zimbabwe)
"Skokiaan" was originally composed and first recorded as a sax and trumpet instrumental by the African Dance Band of the Cold Storage Commission of Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) under leadership of August Musarurwa (possibly in 1947 – anthropologist David Coplan seems to be the sole source for this date). The band comprised two saxophones, two banjos, traps, and a bass. Several tunes played by the Cold Storage Band were recorded by ethnomusicologist Hugh Tracey in June 1951. On Tracey's recording, Musarurwa also apparently played for the Chaminuka Band. Musarurwa copyrighted "Skokiaan", probably in 1952.
Ethnomusicologist Thomas Turino describes "Skokiaan" as having "a four-bar I-IV-I-V progression in 4/4 meter...The main melodic strain (A) begins with a long held trill...played by the sax on the dominant pitch...followed by an undulating, descending melody. The A strain is contrasted with sections of riffing that follow the harmonic progression fairly closely...before the main melody returns." Towards the end of the original recording a short trumpet solo "is overlapped by Musarurwa's sax". The melody throughout "is carried by the sax".
Skokiaan's significance is that it shows how Africa influenced American jazz in particular and popular music in general. Musarurwa's 1947 and 1954 recordings illustrate how unique the indigenous forms of jazz were that emerged in Africa in response to global music trends. While African jazz was influenced from abroad, it also contributed to global trends.
"Skokiaan" has been adapted to various musical stylings, from jazz to mento/reggae (Sugar Belly and the Canefields), and Rock and Roll. The tune has been arranged for strings (South Africa's Soweto String Quartet) and steel drums (Trinidad and Tobago's Southern All Stars). A merengue version was recorded in the Dominican Republic by Antonio Morel y su Orquesta in the 1950s, with saxophone alto arrangement by Felix del Rosario. A number of reggae versions of the song also exist, and marimba covers are particularly popular.
"Skokiaan" has been recorded many times, initially as part of a wave of world music that swept across the globe in the 1950s, spurred on in Africa by Hugh Tracey and in the United States by Alan Lomax, to name two. "Skokiaan" gained popularity outside Africa at the same time as the indigenous South African export, "Mbube" ("Wimoweh"). The sheet music was eventually released in 17 European and African languages. In France in 1955 the orchestra of Alix Combelle recorded a cover of "Skokiaan" on the Philips label. Jacques Hélian also recorded a version. Performers recorded "Skokiaan" in Finland (Kipparikvartetti), Germany (Bert Kaempfert), and Sweden (Lily Berglund), among others. In the United Kingdom, vocal versions were recorded by South African singer Eve Boswell and Alma Cogan.
But it was in the United States that "Skokiaan" peaked on the charts, where it was recorded by musicians as varied as The Four Lads and Johnny Hodges. Hodges's version is notable not only because he recorded the tune with Erroll Garner but because his band at the time included John Coltrane in a minor role.