It’s a weekend of celebration as local jazz musicians bring out four new discs
Thebe Mabanga
In the past week, it has been difficult to talk to anyone in the music industry without mentioning the name Moses Taiwa Molelekwa. His tragic death has cast a haunting shadow on the scene.
This weekend four artists and two groups feature in two concerts that will no doubt lift the gloom. The range of talent on offer is broad from the mesmerising, eclectic sound of Zimbabwean Oliver Mtukudzi to the lilting timbre of Gloria Bosman. It’ll be a fitting, albeit unofficial, tribute to the late pianist.
Mtukudzi, the legendary native from our beleaguered neighbour, has practically made South Africa his second home, or rather one of many as his stature in world music grows with every album. He flies in from the Perth International Arts Festival to present material from his latest album, Bvuma (tolerance).
For thisnnnn appearance he willnnn be joinedn by a long-time collaborator, as well as a morenn recent musical acquaintance. Steve Dyer was musical director of the ensemble Mahube, of which Mtukudzi was head honcho, and has been Mtukudzi’s producer for five albums over the past four years. He has found time to put together a solo album, Down South in Africa, and will undoubtedly take pleasure in sharing the stage with a man he has been friends with for a decade.
Around the middle of last year, Mtukudzi happened upon a recording of Ringo Madlingozi’s Into Yam from his latest offering Buyisa. The track grabbed Mtukudzi so much he composed a Shona translation for himself. The recording, now a firm favourite at Kaya Fm, is said to be the first that combines Shona and a Nguni language, in this case Xhosa. The reception has been mind-blowing.
On a recent tour of Zimbabwe by Mtukudzi and Madlingozi, crowds of 10?000 in Harare and Bulawayo formed mass choirs to sing along. The people in the capital accompanied the lagging Shona section while Madlingozi led in Xhosa. In the Ndebele-dominated Bulawayo, Madlingozi found strong accompaniment in Xhosa while Mtukudzi followed with his enchanting tenor. This weekend, South Africans get their turn to savour the magic for the first time live on stage.
In a second and equally thrilling concert the country’s progressive jazz label, Sheer Sound, unveils new offerings from an established exponent and two new finds.
Gloria Bosman has practically had everything fall into place since the release of her debut album, Tranquillity. She scooped the South African Music Award for best new artist. She then crossed the great divide to collaborate with kwaito artist S’bu in the latter’s Abantu Abazwani.
She’s collaborated with serious music divas Sibongile Khumalo and Sylvia Mdunyelwa and has been joined on stage by Bongo Maffin’s Thandswa Mazwai and the celebrated Busi Mhlongo.
Bosman’s intended tour with Mhlongo a phenomenal idea is unlikely to happen since it was the brainchild of musical director Molelekwa and his late wife, Florence Mthoba.
For her new album, The Many Faces of Gloria Bosman, she was supposed to combine covers with original material. “I decided against using the tried and tested to support the originals because I felt the songs could stand on their own,” she says of the album, which she produced, keeping her hand in all 10 tracks.
She describes the process of taking creative control of her work as gratifying and alludes to being a control freak. “If it turns out to be a mess, I want to have myself to blame,” she says.
Her last album exudes remarkable longevity, with roughly six of the nine tracks enjoying airplay. Her attempt at repeating her debut feat begins on Saturday, in the company of the group Voices, who she knows well, and Heavy Spirits, Sheer Sound’s latest find.
Voices are the low-key version of the Sheer All Stars, only these stars have not recorded solo projects. For their debut, Quintet Legacy, they bring together experience spanning decades and a heavy academic influence. Acclaimed drummer Lulu Gontsana leads a quintet of respected session musicians. University of Natal-educated pianist, Andile Yenana, notes how Gontsana “holds us together. He is our link to what is happening in the country jazz-wise.”
Bass guitarist Herbie Tsoaeli’s name has been in a number of Sheer’s projects, most notably with that of McCoy Mrubata. Together with Yenana, they are the less-mentioned reasons for the success of Mahube. On saxophone, the mean five as Bosman calls them have Sydney Mnisi, a product of Pretoria Technikon who, since 1998, has frequently performed in Holland. To round off, there is Marcus Wyatt on trumpet and flugelhorn. Wyatt has extended his talents to arrange for and produce Heavy Spirits, a new group that’s also featured on the bill. Heavy Spirits hail from Atteridgeville in Pretoria and have been together for just more than a year. They got their break at a performance in Silverton. “We have a loose approach to our composition and like to experiment” says tenor saxophonist Paul Vranas. Their approach has yielded a fairly standard bass guitar and saxophone blues set.
On their first major performance in Johannesburg, the group expects “to put on a good show, but more importantly, to make people give the album more than one listen”.
The company on stage is likely to give them butterflies in the stomach. But the irony of how, as they hit the big time, another artist has just bowed out will not be lost to them.
Oliver Mtukudzi and others are performing on February 23 at Mega Music Warehouse. For more info contact Sheer Sound on Tel: (011) 444?1818. Gloria Bosman is live in concert on February 24 at the Civic Theatre from 7.30pm. Tickets available at Ticketweb, Tel: 082?1400?500