Hotep Idris Galeta

Hotep Idris Galeta (born June 7, 1941 in Cape Town as Cecil Galeta ; † November 3, 2010 in Johannesburg ) was a South African jazz pianist , music teacher and composer . In the 1950s and 1960s he appeared under his father's first name as Cecil Barnard .

Live and act

Galeta grew up in Cape Town and was a member of the South African jazz scene as a teenager; his early mentor was Abdullah Ibrahim . He called himself Cecil Barnard in the 1950s and has also performed with Chris McGregor , Dudu Pukwana , Johnny Gertze and Makaya Ntshoko . He left the apartheid- ruled South Africa around 1960 and lived in London for a year before moving to the United States in 1962, where he continued his education. He studied a. a. with John Mehegan and earned a Master of Arts in music education. In the late 1960s he played in Hugh Masekela's band , with whom he also appeared at the 1967 Monterey International Pop Festival . He then worked with Jackie McLean and taught at Hartt College of Music at the University of Hartford .

In the 1990s he worked a. a. with Mario Pavone ( Toulon Days ), for whom he wrote the composition Monk in Soweto . He finally returned to his homeland in 1991; there was also his album Malay Tone Poem , which he recorded on the South African Sheer Sound label, produced by Zim Ngqawana and accompanied by the Safro Jazz Quintet with original compositions by Galeta. The album was nominated three times for the South African Music Awards .

In the 1990s he was a. a. active as musical director of a program supported by the Volkswagen Foundation called Music Active for music education in high schools. He held the same position for David Kramer's and Taliep Peterson's rock opera Poison and taught at the Music Department at Fort Hare University in Alice . He also worked at the Miriam Makeba Performing Arts Center , which was set up in East London in 2006 . In 2009 he moved to Johannesburg, where he performed at the Downtown Music Hub . He died in November 2010 of complications from an asthma attack .

Galeta has also worked on recordings with Hugh Masekela, The Byrds ( Younger Than Yesterday , 1967), Bobby Hutcherson ( Live at Montreux , 1973), Hadley Caliman , John Handy , Letta Mbulu , Herb Alpert , Jackie McLean, Felicia Marion & Mtunzi Namba, Mario Pavone, Archie Shepp and René McLean with.

The South African Minister of Culture, Paul Mashatile, said in his appreciation that “Galeta will stay alive with its vibrant music”.

Discography

• Saxophone Summit (Kaz 1992)
• Heading Home (African Echoes 1998, with Makhaya Mahlangu, Spencer Mbadu , Monty Weber )
• Solo Jazz Piano, Live at The Tempest (October Records, 1999)
• Malay Tone Poem (Sheer Sound, 2002)

Web links

• Feature on All About Jazz
• Portrait page at Music South Africa

Individual evidence

1. ^ Obituary in The Herald 2010
2. ↑ ^{a b} portrait page at Music South Africa
3. ↑ obituary in AllAfrica