Peter Makurube
When you hear Philip Tabane play guitar you know you are in the presence of greatness. Tabane is the spiritual and creative force behind Malombo, a band that is a national institution or would be if South Africa cared much about original music. This weekend, those who do care will once again have the pleasure of listening to the sounds produced by this innovative genius for nearly four decades. Malombo will play at the Bass Line in Melville, Johannesburg, on Friday January 16 and Saturday January 17.
Having begun in the early Sixties, the Malombo Jazz Men, as they were then, scooped top place at the 1964 Castle Lager Jazz Festival. In those days the band was Tabane on guitar, Abe Cindi on flute and Julian Bahula on African drums. This trio added a unique flavour to South African music it combined Venda and Bapedi traditional music with elements of free- form jazz. Malombo means spirits in Venda; the malombo drums are dedicated to them.
In the late Sixties, the trio broke up. Cindi formed the Malombo Jazzmakers, a band that further jazzified the original Malombo sound, while Bahula went off to London with rock group Hawk, and later formed the band Jabula there with various South African expatriates.
In the meantime Tabane had to train a new band. He settled on his nephew, Mabi Thobejane, whose drumming talent earned him the title of master percussionist. Their two-man act captured the imagination of fans at home and abroad. They released the classic album Pele Pele in 1973. That same year they first played in the United States, where they still have a cult following.
Towards the end of the Eighties Thobejane walked out of his uncles hallowed shadow to join fusion band Sakhile.
Malombo once again had to reorganise itself and continue with the music of the ancestors. Tabane employed another relative, Oupa Monareng, to play the drums, and he is still with the band. Raymond Motau plays shakers and other interesting musical things.
Last year was a busy time for this outfit. They recorded an album Ke A Bereka, on which, for once, Tabane added the talents of other musicians not necessarily trained in Malombo sounds hot players such as bassist Fana Zulu, keyboardist Themba Mkhize and saxophonist Khaya Mahlangu. And that wasnt the only first for Tabane he also used three women singers. Malombo later recorded the soundtrack to TV soap Muvhango.
Last year Tabane was awarded the USs Woza Afrika prize for preserving African culture.