Lucky Ranku

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Lucas Madumetja "Lucky" Ranku (* 1941 in Lady Selborne , Pretoria ; † November 5, 2016 in Manchester ) was a South African guitarist who lived in Great Britain.

Live and act

Ranku grew up in Mamelodi and in 1965, as the successor to Philip Tabane, he became the guitarist of the Malombo Jazz Makers (who also consisted of the wind player Abey Cindi and the drummer Julian Bahula ). He remained in the band until 1975, when the group benefit concerts for the South African Student's Organization of Steve Biko played and therefore the part of the apartheid regime was considered undesirable. With the support of Bahula, he left the country in the same year, leaving his son behind. He emigrated to Great Britain, where he lived in an apartment with Thabo Mbeki. He found work in Bahula's band Jabula , but also worked with Dudu Pukwana's Zila and Mike Oldfield ( Ommadawn , 1975, Incantations , 1978). In 1983 he played Nelson Mandela with Hugh Masekela at the London Birthday Concert .

In the next few years he directed the African National Congress Choir . In Germany he performed with Chris McGregor ( Open Ohr Festival 1986) as well as with Harry Beckett and Makaya Ntshoko . He wrote the music for the film A Solitary Confinement and also contributed to Jonas Gwangwa's music for Cry Freedom . He also worked with the London Gospel Choir and the African Jazz Allstars (which also include Pinise Saul and Claude Deppa ). With Saul he led the band Township Express . In 2001 he performed with David Murray's M'Bizo project and the World Saxophone Quartet at the Moers Festival . With the guitarists Kari Bannerman (Ghana) and Abdul Tee-Jay (Sierra Leone) he played in the ensemble African Guitar Masters . He has also recorded with Winston Mankunku , Gail Thompson , Nana Tsiboe and Dick Heckstall-Smith .

Ranku was a music lecturer at Leeds College of Music and most recently lived in Manchester with his daughter Onica . After he had been on stage until 2014, his health no longer allowed him to do so.

Discographic notes

literature

  • Max Mojapelo, Sello Galane and Chris Walton: Beyond Memory: Recording the History, Moments and Memories of South African Music.

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Jazz Legends The 10 Days Apart The Daily Sun, November 9, 2016
  2. ^ Jürgen Schadeberg , Don Albert: Jazz, Blues & Swing: Six Decades of Music in South Africa. 2007, p. 150.
  3. ↑ Documented on African Sounds for Mandela (Tsafrica)
personal data
SURNAME Ranku, Lucky
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ranku, Madumetja Lucky; Ranku, Lucas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South African jazz musician
DATE OF BIRTH 1941
PLACE OF BIRTH Lady Selbourne
DATE OF DEATH 5th November 2016
Place of death Manchester