Tete Mbambisa
Tete Mbambisa (born January 12, 1942 in East London ) is a South African jazz pianist and composer .
Live and act
As a teenager Mbambisa founded two vocal groups, the Four Yanks (in which Pinise Saul sang next to him and Dudu Pukwana was the pianist from 1957 ) and the Junior Four Yanks ; the latter group included Johnny Dyani as lead singer .
As a pianist he is self-taught ; On this instrument he first appeared in 1961 as a member of the Jazz Giants around Pukwana as a saxophonist with the bassist Martin Mgijima and the drummer Makaya Ntshoko on the jazz scene of Cape Town. Then he belonged to the Ronnie Beer quintet , and at the end of the 1960s he played in the group Spirits Rejoice for Duke Makasi . He also accompanied the singer Sylvia Mdunyelwa. His album Tete's Big Sound, recorded with an octet, with pieces like Unity and the lamentation for the dead, Black Heroes, is considered a classic of the South African underground. He also played with Winston Mankunku , Zim Ngqawana , Herbie Tsoaeli , Feya Faku and Ezra Ngcukana . Mbambisa appeared in the film Sophiatown (2003). At the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz Festival in 2008 he presented his own compositions with a top-class sextet. In 2012 he released a solo album.
His compositions were also interpreted by Chris McGregor , the Blue Notes , Darius Brubeck and McCoy Mrubata . Pukwana dedicated his composition Tete and Barbs In My Mind to him (and his own wife) ; Dyani wrote the song Portrait of Tete Mbambisa (which was released on the album Born under the Heat ).
Discographic notes
- Umsenge (1961)
- The Soul Jazzmen Inhupeko (1970)
- Tete's Big Sound (1976, with Barney Rachabane )
- Did You Tell Your Mother (1976)
- The Brothers Xhosa Nostra (1989, with Ezra Ngcukana, Duke Makasi, Victor Ntoni , Lulu Gontsana)
- Black Heroes (2010)
literature
- Jürgen Schadeberg , Don Albert Jazz, Blues and Swing: Six Decades of Music in South Africa . David Philip, 2007, ISBN 978-0-86486-705-6
Web links
- Tete Mbambisa on Allmusic (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Yvonne Huskisson The Bantu Composers of Southern Africa: Supplement Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council 1983
- ↑ See the liner notes for Township Jazz 'N' Jive ; Two pieces by the Four Yanks are also documented on this album .
- ↑ Eric Ayisi Akrofi, Maria Smit, Stig-Magnus Thorsén Music and Identity: Transformation and Negotiation 2008, p. 258
- ^ Gwen Ansel Soweto Blues: Jazz, Popular Music, and Politics in South Africa 2005, p. 165
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Mbambisa, Tete |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | South African jazz musician and composer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 12, 1942 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | East London |