"When I set out to record Native Intelligence: Segusile the Dawn, I had no idea how it would turn out," says composer, producer and engineer Ian Osrin who owns the acclaimed sound recording studio Digital Cupboard in Johannesburg. Considered to be one of the best in the business, Osrin has worked with some of the most prestigious names in music including Bayete, Jabu Khanyile, Malo We, Mike Makhalemele, Yvonne Chaka Chaka and Miriam Makeba.

What Osrin did know was that in 25 years of recording in the South African music industry, he had heard so many brilliant traditional compositions that had not been given any sort of exposure to western ears.

"This drove me to try something," he says. The result is a powerful compilation of purely traditional African music from some of the continents most talented groups. Osrin's source was the Zindala Zombili concerts which saw the album recorded on location at the Johannesburg Railway Station in December 2006. The latest concert held recently in 2008 featured 46 acts which Osrin says will be the inspiration for his next album. 

Osrin used all his years of studio experience, a bunch of seriously talented musicians and his intuition to blend this music with western rhythms, instrumentation and production techniques. He explains, "I tried to stick as closely to the original melodies as possible but was prepared to take some risks with regard to audio manipulation."

On some of the tracks, Osrin used esoteric techniques such as pitch shifting, time stretching and sample warping resulting in the original tracks presented in fun, fresh and original ways. But, in many cases the samples were left completely unchanged. "I added instruments that tradition dictates have no right to be in the same place like strings and cowhide drums" says Osrin who strongly felt that in making this music no taboos or restrictions would be appropriate. His interests lie in juxtaposing various sorts of sounds together and manipulating source material-- evident in his current project for a TV series of mixing the sounds from nine different religions into one massive opus.

Ultimately, Native Intelligence which succeeds in reinventing traditional music in modern and interesting ways is sure to spark interest in music that Osrin believes if we pay it no attention will, "die and be swallowed up by a morass of mediocre muzak and third-rate imitation hip-hop. This is one effort by an old bull to issue a challenge to all the jongozi in the kraal."