‘So you think you can play with me’ – Louis Moholo-Moholo and the semiotics of freedom

In this paper we look at the work of Louis Tebogo Moholo-Moholo, the legendary South African drummer. Drawing on extensive interview data, we consider Bra Louis's reflections on his artistic practice, while also listening to his musical performances, to the sound of the drums and the collaborative improvisations that define the genre of ‘free jazz’. The analysis focuses on the semiotics of rhythm – its materiality and interactions with orders of time and timing – as well as on Bra Louis' credo of ‘just playing free’ in a world where this freedom doesn't exist. In exploring the meaning of freedom, we reflect on the semiotics of sound (drawing, especially, on Guattari's a-signifying semiotics), and conclude with an analysis of one of Bra Tebs' improvisations as an iconic-indexical instantiation of ‘being free’ in a world of oppression. • Careful engagement with the musical work of Louis Moholo-Moholo from the perspective of semiotics. • A discussion of the role of semiotics in understanding musical performances. • Reflections on the political power of ‘free jazz’ and the meanings of freedom in a world shaped by oppression. • A proposal of how to understand sound semiotically, drawing inter alia on Guattari and Peirce.