Sankomota

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Sankomota
General information
Genre (s) Jazz , rock , soul
founding 1976 as Uhuru
resolution around 1993
Founding members
singing
 Tsepo Tshola
guitar
 Frank Moki Leepa
percussion
 Harebatho "Black Jesus" 'Musa
Drums
 Moss Nkofe
Keyboard
 NN
bass
 NN
former members
bass
 Pitso Sera
bass
 Maruti Selate
saxophone
 Kemal Kusabbi
Keyboard
 Richard Sekgobela

Sankomota was a band in Lesotho that was also successful outside of the country. Until about 1979 the band was called Uhuru ( Swahili for 'freedom')

history

Uhuru was founded in 1976 in the capital Maseru as the successor to the band Anti Antiques . Members included Tsepo Tshola (actually Tšepo Tšola), Frank Moki Leepa, Harebatho "Black Jesus" 'Musa, Moss Nkofe and Moruti Selate. The manager was the Briton Peter E. Schneider, who was living in Lesotho at the time. 'Musa acted as manager in the “black” townships in neighboring South Africa . The first keyboardist was an African American member of the Peace Corps . The band quickly became known in Lesotho. You were successful as the opening act for the American jazz musicians Dizzy Gillespie and Monk Montgomery . Concert tours have taken her to South Africa and Swaziland . In 1978, most of the band's members were arrested by South African authorities; they were looking for 'Musa, who managed to escape. As a result, the band could not perform in South Africa, which made them even more popular in Lesotho. At a concert by the South African Hugh Masekela in the USA , Tshola appeared as a background singer. The band had to rename itself under pressure from the record company around 1979 in order not to be confused with the Jamaican reggae band Black Uhuru . The new name chosen was Sankomota , which comes from the lyrics of the Sankomota song House on Fire .

Their first album, Sankomota, with compositions by Frank Leepa and supporting horn sections was released in 1983. It was so successful that the band was invited to a longer stay in London . The British saxophonist Kemal Kusabbi accompanied her on a tour of Germany. After their return in 1987 they released their album Dreams Do Come True and gave numerous concerts in Lesotho and the rest of southern Africa , in which Kusabbi also took part. The albums The Writing is on the Wall , Exploration - A New Phase and After the Storm followed . Around 1993 the band broke up; Tshola and Leepa began solo careers and released other albums. From the late 1990s onwards, Leepa occasionally appeared with session musicians as "Sankomota". Leepa died in 2003, 'Musa died in May 2010.

style

Sankomota's music mainly contains elements from jazz, rock and soul music, but also from music from southern Africa. Special features are the expressive voice of Tshola and the lyrics sung in several languages, mostly in English or Sesotho , but also in other languages ​​of South Africa.

Discography

  • 1983: Sankomota (Shifty)
  • 1987: Dreams Do Come True (Gallo)
  • 1989: The Writing is on the Wall (CCP Records)
  • 1991: Exploration - A New Phase (CDFlame)
  • 1993: After the Storm
  • 1995: The Best of Tsepo Tshola & Sankomota (CCP Records)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c LETOFE honors jazz muso Leepa. Lesotho Times, September 22, 2017, accessed September 22, 2017
  2. ↑ Report on the founding years of Sankomota ( memento of March 10, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (English), accessed on October 6, 2012
  3. ↑ Myspace page of the Kusabbi Quintet , accessed on July 16, 2010