Basil Coetzee

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Basil "Manenberg" Coetzee [ kuˈt͜sɪə ] (* February 2, 1944 in District Six ; † March 11, 1998 in Mitchell's Plain , Cape Town ) was a South African musician ( tenor saxophone , jazz flute ) who came from the Jive township and had his own soulful approach to modernity Jazz developed.

Live and act

Coetzee grew up under poor conditions in the Cape Town township . In early youth, the penny whistle was his first instrument. In 1958 he began performing in the township. For a short time he switched to drums before he decided to play the concert flute at the age of 16. At the age of 21 he taught himself to play the tenor saxophone, which ultimately became his main instrument. In 1962 he was in the recording studio for the first time. In the early 1970s he toured with Abdullah Ibrahim and with Oswietie. He was heard on vinyl on the album Underground in Africa (1974). With the subsequent recording of Abdullah Ibrahim's (Dollar Brands) Mannenberg - Is Where It's Happening (1974), he finally became known due to the intensity of his playing and the attention the album received in South Africa. The recording became extremely popular in the townships; Coetzee then called himself after the title track of the LP 'Man [n] enberg Coetzee'; only a few years earlier (1969) he and his family had been forced to move to the new township of Manenberg due to the demolition of District Six .

Together with Robbie Jansen he founded the band Pacific Express , which was one of the leading bands in Cape Jazz . Nevertheless, he could not make a living as a jazz musician and worked as a worker in a shoe factory during the 1970s and early 1980s. That changed in 1986 with the founding of his band Sabenza and the establishment of the Cape Town Music School MAPP . In 1987 Sabenza performed at the Culture in Another South Africa festival in Amsterdam ; there he met exiled musicians such as Jonas Gwangwa , Mervyn Africa , Russell Herman and Dudu Pukwana . A European tour followed in the following year; the band supported the African National Congress in the election campaign . When Abdullah Ibrahim returned to South Africa, Coetzee played regularly in its formations. In addition, he continued to perform with Sabenza.

His third album under his own name, B : , was released shortly before his death after suffering from lung cancer for a long time .

Discographic notes

  • Sabenza (1988, with Robbie Jansen, Michael Martin, James Kibby, Titch Jean-Pierre, Paul Abrahams, Jack Momple, Vic Higgins)
  • Monwabisi (1993, with Tony Schilder , James Kibby, Paul Abrahams, Monty Weber , Jack Momple)
  • B: (1998)

Lexigraphic entries

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Cf. Cadence May / 1988, different death date May 12 in the Scotsman
  2. ↑ The BBC later quoted Abdullah Ibrahim as saying: “Even Basil himself said that in later years he would use that solo as a study exercise. We also use it now in our teaching as a required solo that young musicians have to play. "(Even Basil himself said that he wanted to use the solo as a practice material in later years. We also use it now in our lessons as a compulsory solo young musicians have to play).
  3. ↑ The band name came on the one hand from SABand (South African band), on the other hand from the isiZulu word for work, sebenza . Robbie Jansen and Ezra Ngcukana also belonged to the band .
personal data
SURNAME Coetzee, Basil
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Coetzee, Manenberg
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South African jazz musician
DATE OF BIRTH February 2, 1944
PLACE OF BIRTH District Six
DATE OF DEATH March 11, 1998
Place of death Cape Town