What are your two favourite albums of all time and which tracks stand out for you?
Village Vanguard Again by John Coltrane. The tracks Naima and My Favourite Things are my favourite. The second one is My Funny Valentine by Miles Davis.
The title track and Stella By Starlight stand out for me.
Describe your set for Joy of Jazz.
I will be playing a tune from the Cannonball Aderley Quintet, Miles Davis Quintet, Don Sherry and the London-based South African band Brotherhood of Breath. I will also have some of my original compositions, ranging from hard bop to fusion, pop and African jazz.
What are your thoughts on the South African music industry ahead of the country’s music week?
I can say South African music is recovering from apartheid but is still conforming to toxic music. I do not have to explain that. There is hope with what the universities are doing, by adding a jazz curriculum. Because jazz is a public good it needs government intervention. The government need not provide money but rather the infrastructure, such as equipment and subsidising development and music education projects.
At what point in your career do you think you are now and where do you see yourself in five years’ time?
I retired from music in 1980; I am just on call for gigs. I am also not a recording artist; I just allow nature to take its course. Record companies do not want to record art but rather music that sells. In five years I will still be doing the same.
If you met the late Miles Davis, what would you have said to him?
I recently met Ron Carter in Tokyo and George Duke in The Hague and I thought the novelty has worn off, simply because musicians do not talk about music and also because I am my own academy now. As for Miles, I would rather meet him on stage than off it.