Kwela is a happy, often pennywhistle based, street music from southern Africa with jazzy underpinnings. It evolved from the marabi sound and brought South African music to international prominence in the 1950s. Tin whistles in a variety of makes and keys The tin whistle, also called the flageolet, pennywhistle, Irish whistle, or simply whistle, is a simple six-holed breath instrument. ... Marabi is an indigenous music that evolved in South Africa over the last century. ...

The music is rooted in Africa, but later adaptations of this and many other African folk idioms have permeated western music (listen to Graceland by Paul Simon) and give modern South African music, particularly jazz, much of its distinctive sound and lilting swagger. Africa is the worlds second-largest continent and second most populous after Asia. ... Graceland is an album released in 1986 by Paul Simon. ... Paul Simon This article is about the musician; for other Paul Simons, see Paul Simon (disambiguation). ... Jazz is a musical art form originally characterized by blue notes, syncopation, swing, call and response, polyrhythms, and improvisation. ...

So why the pennywhistle? An obvious attraction was being cheap and portable, but it also lent itself as a solo or an ensemble instrument. Maybe the popularity of the pennywhistle was based on the fact that flutes of different kinds had long been traditional instruments among the peoples of the more northerly parts of South Africa, and the pennywhistle thus enabled the swift adaptation of folk tunes into the new marabi-influenced music. This article pertains to the musical instrument. ...

The word "kwela" is taken from the Zulu for "get up", though in township slang it also referred to the police vans, the "kwela-kwela". It could be an invitation to join the dance as well as serving as a warning! It is said that the young men who played the pennywhistle on street corners also acted as lookouts to warn those enjoying themselves in the shebeens of the arrival of the police. The Zulu are an African ethnic group of about 11 million people who live mainly in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. ... Chiefly in Ireland and Scotland, a shebeen is an illicit bar or club where excisable alcoholic beverages are sold without a licence. ...

Artists such as Lemmy Mabaso were renowned for their pennywhistle skills, and Spokes Mashiyane was maybe most prominent with his kwela pennywhistle tunes.