Sankomota is widely regarded as one of the greatest musical bands to come out of the tiny ‘mountain kingdom’ of Lesotho, Sankomota (originally Uhuru) was formed around 1976. It consisted of several members in its earliest years, namely – Frank Leepa (guitarist, vocalist, arranger, composer), Moss Nkofo (drummer), Black Jesus (percussion), Moruti Selate, Tsepo Tsola (lead vocalist, composer), Pitso Sera (guitar), among others.
However, when talking about Sankomota, one name stands out immediately, Tsepo Tsola.
A few years ago, the artist, who is commonly known as “the village pope,” recovered from 17 long years of addiction to both drugs and alcohol.
Not much can be found online about Tsepo Tsola but you can read more on Music.org.za
Tsepo Tsola “The Village Pope” (Pic: Winter Jazz Festival)
The Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions # 27: Tsepo Tsola & Sankomota
Over the next few Sundays, Howzit-HongKong.com will feature a YouTube clip of one (or more) of the musicians and their sounds who have influenced and shaped South African and specifically Cape Town music as part of what we like to call The Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions. I am fortunate to be living right next to one of the most stunning working harbours in the world… Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour. I often find myself staring across the Harbour at night, with the lights dimmed and one of my favourite musicians from home over the speakers. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do…
Leslie Kleinsmith has been performing on the South African Cabaret and Jazz for a whopping 38 years.
The consummate entertainer is these days known by his stage name of Leslie K Smith.
Due to the fact that it is very difficult to make a career as a musician in South Africa, Leslie has had to find a way to continue his musical career.
Thankfully he has made a name for himself on the international cruise-liner entertainment industry, and as a result, the local music scene still enjoys the talents of one of the Cape most-talented performers.
Mister Entertainer. Leslie performing on the Costa Pacifica (Pic: Flory Turcu on FaceBook)
I have scoured the internet and could only find the following short bio of Leslie Kleinsmith:
Sophisticated, eloquent, and absolutely entertaining are the only words that can describe this crooner. After 38 years in the South African Cabaret and Jazz music industry Leslie K. Smith has deservedly earned the title of Grand Performer.
When he’s not busy in the studio, Lesley is most at home with live intimate performances exuding a stage presence, voice and charisma of performers such as Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis, jnr, all of whom where influences in his formative years. His voice, now a sculpted tone of contra-alto leaning toward golden tenor evokes a warmth and pliability that turn great songs into personal innovation of love.
His most memorable performances include a lead role in District 6,
And wowing international stages of the Edinburgh Arts Festival in Scotland and the 1992 Miss World Contest where 600 million television viewers got to see him perform.
His ability to bring true emotion to music goes well with audiences who enjoy romantic inspiration, but it’s almost as though you can get just about any kind of soulful vibe from this “living jukebox”.
Over the next few Sundays, Howzit-HongKong.com will feature a YouTube clip of one (or more) of the musicians and their sounds who have influenced and shaped South African and specifically Cape Town music as part of what we like to call The Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions. I am fortunate to be living right next to one of the most stunning working harbours in the world… Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour. I often find myself staring across the Harbour at night, with the lights dimmed and one of my favourite musicians from home over the speakers. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do…
Dave Grusin is one of the legends when you speak about Cape Town Jazz and the international stars who influenced its sound.
A legendary composer for some very famous movie soundtracks, Grusin is also known to have collaborated with some really HUGE names in Jazz.
But my most-famous collaboration happened in Japan years back when he introduced his good friend (and ours) Sadao Watanabe who played on one of the all-time Cape Town (international) anthems…
Friends & Strangers.
Grusin was performing live in Japan (hence the title of this recording) An album that I am still trying to get my grubby paws on. (I know that Clarence Ford from Heart 104.9 has one!)
On a personal level, I met Sadao Watanabe after a concert in Taipei, Taiwan with my kids Ethan (3 at the time) and Micaela (7 years old). It was after midnight on a school-night and he asked why they were not in bed.
I told him that meeting him was a lifelong dream and that, between him and the Cape Town legend Robbie Jansen, they were the reason my daughter was studying the sax.
He was most impressed and expressed his desire to one day visit Cape Town.
Hopefully Rashied Lombard can get him to play at the Cape Town International Jazz Festival some day.
Below, my signed CD by the Sensei himself:
I found the following clip of the track on YouTube, while not the entire song, I love it anyway…
Until I get my hands on that elusive album!
The Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions #25: Friends & Strangers
Over the next few Sundays, Howzit-HongKong.com will feature a YouTube clip of one (or more) of the musicians and their sounds who have influenced and shaped South African and specifically Cape Town music as part of what we like to call The Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions. I am fortunate to be living right next to one of the most stunning working harbours in the world… Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour. I often find myself staring across the Harbour at night, with the lights dimmed and one of my favourite musicians from home over the speakers. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do…
Cape Town in the fifties and sixties delivered its fair share of crooners who modelled their music and even their dress sense on famous singers such as Frank Sinatra, Harry Belafonte, etc.
In a 1992 hit-musical called “Crooners,” well-known producers David Kramer and Taliep Petersen showcased some of the Mother City’s forgotten talent.
One such talent (I’m not sure if he was part of Kramer’s musical) was a singer called Dougie Schrikker.
Largely unknown even in his own city, Schrikker performed live on the nightclub- and carnival scene around the Cape Flats. As far as I can remember, he never recorded a album. A quick Google-search doesn’t even return a profile or any pictures of the performer.
However, about 3 years ago I posted a video featuring an audio-clip of Dougie singing the Frank Sinatra tune ”When I fall in love.” The clip came from a CD I bought soon after Schrikker’s death in 1998. The hastily put-together CD features a few tracks of Dougie Schikker recorded during a live performance.
The Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions #24: Dougie Schrikker
Here is the video of Dougie Schrikker set to images of some of Cape Town and South Africa’s musical talents as well as some images of my hometown of the Helderberg:
Over the next few Sundays, Howzit-HongKong.com will feature a YouTube clip of one (or more) of the musicians and their sounds who have influenced and shaped South African and specifically Cape Town music as part of what we like to call The Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions. I am fortunate to be living right next to one of the most stunning working harbours in the world… Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour. I often find myself staring across the Harbour at night, with the lights dimmed and one of my favourite musicians from home over the speakers. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do…
When we talk about the different influences that contributed to the making of Cape Town music, and Cape Jazz in particular, there is one nation and one genre that stands out above all the others:
Brazil and the Samba.
Samba music, it’s beat, it’s people and their love for their roots. These encapsulate Cape Town people and our connection to our music.
I’d like to think that something good came out of the world-wide scourge of slavery.
Music.
You can find African beats in the music of nations all of the world because of the slaves who were forcibly transported there.
As they were in Cape Town.
“But Cape Town IS African” I hear you say.
Ja, it is, but slaves were also imported TO Cape Town from other parts of the world. In the case of Cape Town we received slaves from (the old) Java/Indonesia, Malaysia, India and many other places.
Like we said before, all of these peoples AND their music made Cape Town music what it is today.
But today we pay tribute to Brazil and their influence on the Cape Town sound and who else to focus on but the Brazilian master himself:
Now I am not ‘qualified’ to tell you much about it, so here’s a Cape Town ghoema legend in Mac McKenzie who knows:
Earlier in the Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions we featured a Cape Town legend in the late Tony Schilder.
Tony penned a song called “Obrigado Brazil” that smoothly blends the Brazilian and Cape Town sounds into one.
The Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions #23: Mitchell’s Plain Samba
He also made famous a song dedicated to the people of Mitchell’s Plain (a coloured township on the wind-swept Cape Flats) called Mitchell’s Plain Samba.
We’d like to share this with you and pay tribute to Brazil and it’s people.
Over the next few Sundays, Howzit-HongKong.com will feature a YouTube clip of one (or more) of the musicians and their sounds who have influenced and shaped South African and specifically Cape Town music as part of what we like to call The Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions. I am fortunate to be living right next to one of the most stunning working harbours in the world… Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour. I often find myself staring across the Harbour at night, with the lights dimmed and one of my favourite musicians from home over the speakers. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do…
Cape jazz is a genre of jazz, similar to the popular music style known as marabi, though more improvisational in character, which is performed in the southern part of Africa. Where marabi is a piano jazz style, in the beginning this music grew (though not exclusively) from instruments that can be carried in a street parade, such as brass instruments, banjos, guitars and percussion instruments.
The Cape part of the name, refers to Cape Town, South Africa. The leading exponents of this style are pianist Abdullah Ibrahim and saxophonists the late Basil Coetzee and Robbie Jansen. These three, together with bassist Paul Michaels, drummer the late Monty Weber and sax man Morris Goldberg, recorded the seminal Cape Jazz song, “Mannenberg” in the early 1970s.
One of the main inspirations behind Cape Jazz comes from the folk songs sung by people descended from the former slave communities living in the Western Cape, known loosely as the Cape Coloured or Cape Malay people.
A street carnival parade or Mardi Gras (also called the Coon Carnival) is held each year peaking on the 2nd of January. This event is the culmination of months of musical and dance rehearsal and community-based competitions, by various mostly mix race folk, and was known as Tweede Nuwe Jaar (Afrikaans). The performers known as Klopse, borrowed the painted faces and bright consumes of the minstrel show style of New Orleans (now USA) and combined this with African and European music which was to be heard in the taverns and night clubs of the port city.
Some of this music is also more recently known as Goema, or Ghoema Jazz, referring to a particular wooden barrel shaped Asian style drum (also known in the Cape as a Ghomma) played by the revelers in the troupes in the aforementioned parade.
During Howzit-HongKong.com’s visit home in 2009, we were fortunate to attend the 60th birthday party of the late Cape Town saxophonist Robbie Jansen at the G-Spot venue in Epping (Cape Town). In conversation with the great man that evening, we arranged to return this year to record his take on the Cape Jazz story. Sadly, that will not happen as Robbie passed away late in 2010.
The Jansens: Robbie and Michael at the G-spot in 2009 (Pic: Mike Jansen)
Here are some of the pictures we took:
We are going to be referring the the terms “Cape Jazz” as well as “Ghoema” over the next few weeks, so without any further ado…. here’s that seminal Cape Town anthem:
The Victoria Harbour Sundowner sessions #22: Mannenberg
Over the next few Sundays, Howzit-HongKong.com will feature a YouTube clip of one (or more) of the musicians and their sounds who have influenced and shaped South African and specifically Cape Town music as part of what we like to call The Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions. I am fortunate to be living right next to one of the most stunning working harbours in the world… Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour. I often find myself staring across the Harbour at night, with the lights dimmed and one of my favourite musicians from home over the speakers. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do…
After a brief intermission for Christmas and New Year’s Eve, The Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions make a welcome return to Howzit-HongKong.com albeit in a slightly different guise and on a different day.
Where we celebrated South African musicians and their music in the previous 20 features, this time around we’d like to change tack and celebrate the music and the musicians who have influenced South African and, in particular, Cape Town music.
As we’ve said before, as a harbour city, Cape Town and it’s music have been fortunate to be influenced greatly by the sounds, beat and the instruments of the peoples who visited our shores . As a consequence, Cape Town music developed as a unique genre, retaining little bits of all these influences.
Howzit-HongKong.com’s Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions will, over the following few Sundays, pay tribute to some of these musicians… their sounds and their beats. We will also feature some of the classic old skool tunes that shaped our collective memories.
I hope you will enjoy it as much as we do.
Peace.
Mister motormouth… Al Jarreau’s version of the classic Take 5
The Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions #21: Take Five
Three different versions by: Dave Brubeck, George Benson/Sadao Watanabe, Al Jarreau.
Over the next few Sundays, Howzit-HongKong.com will feature a YouTube clip of one (or more) of the musicians and their sounds who have influenced and shaped South African and specifically Cape Town music as part of what we like to call The Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions. I am fortunate to be living right next to one of the most stunning working harbours in the world… Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour. I often find myself staring across the Harbour at night, with the lights dimmed and one of my favourite musicians from home over the speakers. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do…
There was a time in the South African community in Hong Kong when we were treated to a plethora of top South Africa artists and musicians visiting the Hong Kong shores.
One such musician who was invited over by the SA government is Shannon Mowday, who toured China as part of the South African national Expo in 2008.
She wasn’t alone when she visited Hong Kong in October 2008. Making up what I liked to call “the awesome threesome” was bassist extraodinaire Concord Nkabinde as well as the multi-talented Mark Fransman.
The “awesome threesome” Shannon, Mark Fransman & Concord Nkabinde
Shannon Mowday
Born in South Africa to a musical family, Shannon Mowday draws from many influences with seemingly boundless energy and brings it together with purpose and style.
Acknowledged internationally as a gifted saxophone player, Shannon is also an accomplished multi-instrumentalist, covering the range of the woodwind family as well as piano. Add to that the title of accomplished composer, arranger, educator and lyricist.
Her colleagues know her as an extremely adept and versatile musician, having performed in a variety styles including performances as soloist with a symphonic orchestra, live recordings of classical saxophone quartet , Big Band leader and conductor, straight-ahead jazz, African, klezmer ,traditional styles in both in a studio and live environment.
She has performed alongside South Africa’s best with artists including Winston Mankuku, Robbie Janssen,Jeduith Sephuma, Selaolo Selota Feya Faku, Concord Nkabinde, Gloria Bosman, Kevin Gibson as well as international musicians such as James Morrison, John Fedchock, Douglas Masek,Stefon Harris and members of the Stockholm Jazz Orchestra to name but a few.
Howzit-HongKong.com will feature a YouTube clip of one South African music legend every Friday as part of what we like to call The Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions. I am fortunate to be living right next to one of the most stunning working harbours in the world… Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour. I often find myself staring across the Harbour at night, with the lights dimmed and one of my favourite musicians from home over the speakers. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do…
Legendary jazz pianist Tony Schilder died at Booth Memorial Hospital in Cape Town last night after a long illness. He was 73.
Schilder, who started playing the piano at a young age, went on to make a name for himself as one of the greatest jazz musicians in the city. He was regularly referred to as the gentleman of jazz.
He was a band leader at Club Montreal in Manenberg and contributed to many jazz compilations.
Schilder came from a family of musicians. His mother was an accomplished musician, his father made a living as a musician and his brothers – Richard, Jackie, Philip and Chris – are all musicians, as is his son Hilton.
This year a number of his peers – Robbie Jansen, Winston Mankunku Ngozi and Ezra Ngcukana, trumpeter Alex van Heerden and vocalist Jeff Weiner have all died.
This morning Western Cape Musicians Association Chairman William Rezant said Schilder had been bed-ridden for two years. Two months ago he suffered a stroke and was treated at Somerset Hospital.
Howzit-HongKong.com will feature a YouTube clip of one South African music legend every Friday as part of what we like to call The Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions. I am fortunate to be living right next to one of the most stunning working harbours in the world… Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour. I often find myself staring across the Harbour at night, with the lights dimmed and one of my favourite musicians from home over the speakers. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do…
Freshlyground formed in early 2002, and is made up of seven talented and diverse musicians from South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
Fronted by the diminutive but dynamic Zolani Mahola, the band exudes a live performance energy that has been the bedrock of their success. The experienced rhythm section of Peter Cohen (drums) & Josh Hawks (bass) is complimented by guitarist Julio Sigauque, keyboardist Seredeal Scheepers, Simon Attwell (flute, mbira, sax and harmonica) and violinist Kyla Rose Smith. Although hailing from diverse backgrounds, between them the band’s members weave a musical magic that is highly infectious and undeniably groovy.
In 2003 Freshlyground launched their debut album, Jika Jika under their own Freeground Records label, the immediate success of which firmly cemented the band as one of South Africa’s most successful young acts.
Freshlyground released their second studio album Nomvula in July 2004. Nomvula was recorded and produced by JB Arthur and Sibusiso Victor Masondo.
The album sparked interest from Sony BMG Africa, who signed the band and released Nomvula in September that year. Radio quickly picked up on the single ‘Doo Be Doo’ and the catchy song went on to become a crossover favorite amongst a diverse spread of stations and their listeners. ‘Doo Be Doo’ was the most played song in South Africa in 2005. The major success of ‘Doo Be Doo’ was followed by the singles ‘I’d Like’, ‘Zithande’, ‘Things Have Changed’ and the title track of the album Nomvula.
Freshlyground gained further international recognition when they performed the catchy “Waka Waka” together with international superstar Shakira at the 2010 Football World Cup in South Africa.
Howzit-HongKong.com will feature a YouTube clip of one South African music legend every Friday as part of what we like to call The Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions. I am fortunate to be living right next to one of the most stunning working harbours in the world… Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour. I often find myself staring across the Harbour at night, with the lights dimmed and one of my favourite musicians from home over the speakers. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do…
