Winston Mankunku

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Winston Mankunku (* 1943 in Retreat, Cape Town ; † October 12, 2009 in Cape Town; real name Winston Monwabisi Ngozi ) was a South African musician of Cape Jazz ( tenor and soprano saxophone ).

Live and act

His mother took care of the development of his musicality; The autodidact first played the piano, then the trumpet, before he found the saxophone at the age of sixteen. In the early 1960s he - like many others - was relocated to Gugulethu . He was influenced by musicians of the Cape Town scene like Midge Pike, Parks Joya, "Cups & Saucers" Nkanuka and Merton Barrow as well as by John Coltrane . At an early age, in deliberate violation of the apartheid laws, he played concerts with musicians of other ethnic origins - for fear of repression behind a curtain and under the pseudonym Winston Mann (which later led to his stage name).

In 1968 he recorded the album Yakhal 'Inkomo with the trio of Early Mabuza , which sold very well and whose piece Dedication is dedicated to John Coltrane and Horace Silver . Despite being named “ Jazz Musician of the Year” at the Castle Lager Jazz Festival , he could hardly survive as a musician. In 1969 he recorded with the Chris Schilder Quintet, 1975 with The Cliffs and 1976 (under a pseudonym) on Sammy Hartman's album District Six . In 1976 bassist Johnny Gertze introduced him to pianist Mike Perry, with whom he worked for a long time from the early 1980s. The two recorded the album Jika in 1987 , partly with exiled musicians in London. In 1989 they toured the UK with Dudu Pukwana , Lucky Ranku and Ernest Mothle . He also gave concerts in Germany and in 1993 in Scandinavia. In 1996 he was on tour with Jack van Poll in Belgium, where he also played with Toots Thielemans . The album Molo Africa contained the hit "A Song for Bra Des Tutu" and won the 1999 South African Music Award (SAMA) for best traditional jazz album.

Mankunku also worked on various projects with the band The Soul Jazz Men from Port Elizabeth . He played with most of the major musicians on the South African scene, including Barney Rachabane , Chris McGregor , Victor Ntoni , Monty Weber , Abdullah Ibrahim , Pat Matshikiza , Sandile Shanga, Darius Brubeck and Roger Khosa. He has also performed with Chick Corea , Joe Henderson and Manu Dibango .

Discographic notes

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Mankunku, Winston
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ngozi, Winston Monwabisi; Ngozi, Winston Mankuku
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South African jazz saxophonist
DATE OF BIRTH 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH Retreat, Cape Town , South Africa
DATE OF DEATH October 12, 2009
Place of death Cape Town , South Africa