In the 1980s The Genuines (“South Africa’s only black rock band“) ruled protest band music in Cape Town. (They had some competition from jazzmen Robbie Jansen, Basil Coetzee and to some extent from white rockers Bright Blue). The Genuines consisted of the very talented Mac McKenzie (bass and leader), Hilton Schilder (keyboard player), Gerard O’Brien (guitar) and Ian Herman […]
The Music of Alex van Heerden
January 16, 2010 By 1 Comment
This month is the first anniversary of trumpet player Alex van Heerden’s sudden passing last January. When he died he was recording music with a band of farm workers, the Delta Optel Vastrap Band (that’s them above). As I noted at the time, I was a big fan of Van Heerden’s style of playing–the way […]
MUSIC / TWEEDE NUWEJAAR
December 31, 2009 By 4 Comments
