Gwen Ansell pays tribute to late great South African percussionist Makhaya Mahlangu
MAKHAYA MAHLANGU is no more. The 42-year-old percussionist died in his sleep in the early hours of Monday morning.
“Makhaya was a person who’d gone through many things in his life: poverty, oppression from the system. Yet he became one of the greats — a highly talented musician. We’re going to miss him so much,” says drummer Lulu Gontsana. “It’s tragic how the frustrations of his life drove him to neglect and damage his health.”
Away from his drums, Mahlangu was a great shambling bear of a man given to loud bursts of laughter and Rabelaisian gestures — intimidating, perhaps, to those who didn’t know him.
But he was a gentle giant; his laughter was never cruel and his conversation revealed an acute sensitivity to the injustices of life.
That sensitivity was most marked in his playing. As well as being a dazzling and powerful soloist, Mahlangu’s great gift was the ability to respond instantly and empathetically to the emotions of a jazz solo or the nuances of a lyric or poem.
Earlier this year, he was in impromptu action accompanying visiting United States beat poet Ted Joans in an afternoon recital of verse at Kippie’s in Johannesburg. Joans was apprehensive: he’d never met the percussionist before, and Mahlangu had never read the poems. Four stanzas in, and they were cooking.
At the end of the afternoon, the American said he’s been bowled over by Mahlangu’s skill and style. The percussionist, typically, was slightly embarrassed by the praise.
The bands and musicians Mahlangu worked with read like a South African Hall of Fame. In the early 1970s, as a drummer, he played in a group with the young Bheki Mseleku and veteran trumpeter Dennis Mpale. Mpale says he’s shattered by the loss: “Makhaya was a fine musician — but he was also a completely sweet-natured guy. Everybody who worked with him loved him.”
Mahlangu was a regular with Caiphus Semenya, and accompanied Semenya’s international show, Buwa, across Africa. In West Africa, according to other cast members, he established instant rapport with fellow percussionists there and participated in some memorable marathon jams.
So we shouldn’t forget, as we marvel at the complex cross-rhythms of Mali, Senegal and the Gambia, that we do have our equivalent drum maestros here.
The problem is, we usually don’t notice them until it’s too late.
The Musicians Union of South Africa will be organising a commemorative fundraiser for Mahlangu. Watch the press for details.