Jonas Gwangwa

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Jonas Mosa Gwangwa (born October 19, 1937 in Orlando East , Johannesburg ; † January 23, 2021 in Johannesburg) was a South African musician ( trombone , arrangement ) who had a great influence on the international reception of the music of his homeland.

Live and act

Gwangwa received his first trumpet from Trevor Huddleston (a future archbishop); from 1954 Gwangwa was part of the Huddleston Jazz Band during his school days at St Peter's College . He achieved national fame in 1959 with the Jazz Epistles , who recorded the first South African long-playing record with modern jazz . He was then a member of the band that played the music for the musical King Kong ; with this ensemble he toured England in 1961. At the end of the tour he went to the United States, where he had a scholarship to the Manhattan School of Music . He went with Herb Alpert and became arranger and musical director of Harry Belafontes Band. In 1965 he was part of the "Sound of Africa" ​​concert at Carnegie Hall , in which Miriam Makeba , Hugh Masekela and Letta Mbulu participated. With Caiphus Semenya he conceived the musical Buwa . In the following years he played in Masekela's band, for whom he also arranged. Then he was the musical director of the tour production of the ANC musical Amandla for ten years .

In the late 1980s he wrote the score for Cry Freedom with George Fenton , which was nominated for a Grammy and an Oscar and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Score . In 1988 he performed at the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute Concert at London's Wembley Stadium . Only after the end of apartheid policy in 1991 did he return to South Africa.

Gwangwa wrote other film scores and also the theme music for South Africa's 1997 application for the Olympics. In 1999 he received the Order for Meritorious Service in silver.

In 2010 he was awarded the Order of Ikhamanga in gold.

In 2016 he gave two concerts with his former colleagues from the Jazz Epistles, Masekela and Abdullah Ibrahim .

Since June 2019, Gwangwa suffered from a serious illness; he died in January 2021 at the age of 83.

Discographic notes

Filmography

  • 1987 Cry Freedom (Cry Freedom)
  • 1990: Screenplay (TV series, episode "The Land of Dreams")
  • 1993: Ulibambe Lingashoni (TV series)
  • 1995: Damn it! Where is the freedom? (Soweto Green: This Is a 'Tree' Story)
  • 2004: South Africa - Faucet and Grassroots (A South African Love Story - Walter and Albertina Sisulu)

Lexigraphic entries

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Schadeberg & Albert Jazz, Blues and Swing (p. 154) give 1939 as the year of birth
  2. ↑ a b Gwen Ansell: Jonas Gwangwa embodied SA's struggle for a national culture. In: moneyweb.co.za. January 23, 2021, accessed January 23, 2021 .
  3. ↑ List of recipients of the medal 1999 (English), accessed on August 25, 2018
  4. ↑ List of the 2010 winners from sabinetlaw.co.za (English), accessed on June 16, 2014
  5. ^ Remaining Jazz Epistles reunite for two concerts. enca.com, accessed December 2, 2016
personal data
SURNAME Gwangwa, Jonas
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gwangwa, Jonas Mosa (full name)
SHORT DESCRIPTION South African musician (trombone, arrangement)
DATE OF BIRTH October 19, 1937
PLACE OF BIRTH Orlando East , Johannesburg
DATE OF DEATH January 23, 2021
Place of death Johannesburg