Peter Makurube
For the next two weeks, Johannesburg city will be in feelgood mode because jazz pianist Pat Matshikiza is in town.
His sojourn begins on Friday night (May 28) at the Bassline and ends next weekend when he heads for Kippies in the Newtown Cultural Precinct. Hopefully, Matshikiza’s presence in the city will rejuvenate the jazz scene that has recently become somewhat stale – the same acts appear week after week and there is tons of contemporary fusion.
Matshikiza’s track record is long and illustrious and his following has transcended the generation gap, largely because his recording, Tshona, is one of the most recognisable tunes in the country’s music history. Since composing and recording the number with the late Kippie Moeketsi, every instrumentalist worth the name has endeavoured to master Tshona.
Matshikiza’s return to Jozi brings back memories of a golden time for Southern African jazz. A time of festivals across the subcontinent, showcasing countless top- drawer exponents of the sound. When he first hit town in 1962, Matshikiza did so in style. He joined the revered Jazz Dazzlers, led by that forgotten hero Mackay Davashe, replacing another awesome pianist Gideon Nxumalo.
Joining the band was like being asked to play for Orlando Pirates. And with his musical background, he was up to the task – coming from a family of jazz pioneers. His father, Meekly “Fingers” Matshikiza, was an eminent pianist-cum-singer and his uncle, Todd Matshikiza, wrote the musical King Kong.
By the middle of the Sixties, Matshikiza was ensconced in playing piano for The Big Five, a mean outfit led by drummer Early Mabuza. The band won the coveted first prize at the annual Castle Lager Festival in 1964.
Other great musicians Matshikiza has played with include Letta Mbulu, Sipho Mabuse and Alec Khaoli, the sorely underrated Durban guitarist Sandile Shange and Dennis Mpale. He even shared the stage with Abdullah Ibrahim. In the late Seventies Matshikiza produced his own solo albums Tshona and Sikiza Matshikiza, then dropped off the mainstream circuit.
The lack of opportunities for black musicians then, especially in jazz, drove him to the hotel circuit, and he has been working for Sun International ever since. In 1994 he made a brief, all too short return to Kippies in a series of performances organised by his cousin, director/writer John Matshikiza.
This month’s concerts form part of John Matshkiza’s commitment to unveiling the legacy of his father Todd. As a result, Pat will play his own repertoire in the first set, and will devote the second to Todd’s compositions, including rare unrecorded numbers from King Kong.
With Barney Rachabane on alto sax, Glen Masoko on the bass and Morabo Morejele on the drums, Matshikiza’s gig should pull jazzophiles out of their burrows for a night with the quintessential griot of the ivories.