JAZZ: Gwen Ansell
FANS talking about their favourite jazzman often have trouble delinking the player from his tunes – Masekela and Stimela are an obvious example. With McCoy Mrubata, it’s different. What the fans talk about is the way the reedman plays and the way he relates to his audience.
Mrubata has been busy this week preparing for tonight’s Sheer Sounds launch of his first album for six years, Tears of Joy. The launch also involves Zim Ngqawana’s Norwegian collaboration album, San, and a historical compilation from Sipho Gumede, plus a reprise of material from Paul Hanmer’s Trains to Taung. Between rehearsals (and ferrying his kids to and from creche – he’s a very 1990s father), he took time to talk about the album, and the scene.
“As I’ve said before, it’s Tears of Joy because I couldn’t quite believe that I was finally getting out an album of all this old music of mine, of years since the last album, Firebird. I’d tried everything. I talked to the big companies, and they loved my style, but then again they wanted me to sound like something else; use more sequencers, more electronics.
“Then I was on the verge of doing it myself. I’d begun knocking on my bank manager’s door to raise the money. Finally, Sheer Sounds came and took all that off my shoulders. They’ve been a godsend.”
Mrubata doesn’t share the feeling of some performers, that audiences must offer silent respect to creative jazz. He’s happy to be an entertainer, and acutely aware of building a bond with his audience. “Yes, when I play, I consciously try and reach out, whoever the crowd is. I also think it’s important that the crowd gets a feeling of teamwork from the band – that creates a good vibe. So sometimes I don’t take a solo on a number, but let another player have that space. Then, when I solo, my playing is fresh and we’re all working as equals.”
The album uses Mrubata’s regular collaborators: bassist Andre Abrahamse, trombonist Jabu Magubane, trumpeter Prince Lengoasa and drummer Barry van Zyl, plus a range of guests. The material reflects the saxophonist’s upbringing in the Cape, in numbers like Cape Samba and the goema Bo- Kaap, plus the older jazz tradition reflected in Umsenge. “The Cape is where my roots are,” says Mrubata, “and I grew up admiring Cape jazz heroes: the Schilder family, Mankunku, “Mannenberg”, Robbie Jansen. Perhaps that’s the flavour that makes people notice my style.”
Since those early years, though, Mrubata has picked up a wider jazz vocabulary, in bands like Brotherhood and … And Friends, and in countless sessions and pop music backing gigs, most famously around the world with Lucky Dube.
He’s depressed by the jazz scene here: “It’s not dying; it’s already dead. Lack of business skills among promoters and club- owners, lack of imagination in the big record companies, lack of organisation among us musicians ourselves are all parts of the reason.”
But he’s not without hope. He’s been impressed by the new Midi initiative, and the response it has provoked among younger musicians. And he’s already planning the next album. “A wider range of music; work from other composers next time. Now this album is out, I’m ready to move on.”
McCoy Mrubata’s album will be launched on Friday June 27 at Mega Music, Jo’burg