{"id":188322,"date":"2021-05-08T14:50:56","date_gmt":"2021-05-08T12:50:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/remembering-zim-ngqawana-10-years-on-a-singular-force-in-south-african-music\/"},"modified":"2021-05-08T14:50:56","modified_gmt":"2021-05-08T12:50:56","slug":"remembering-zim-ngqawana-10-years-on-a-singular-force-in-south-african-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/remembering-zim-ngqawana-10-years-on-a-singular-force-in-south-african-music\/","title":{"rendered":"Remembering Zim Ngqawana 10 years on, a singular force in South African music"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Zimasile \u2018Zim\u2019 Ngqawana, died<\/a> unexpectedly and too soon \u2013 on 10 May 2011 at the age of 51 \u2013 leaving bereft a family and a musical community that spanned the globe. <\/p>\n

A flautist and saxophonist, composer and teacher, Ngqawana was born in New Brighton township in then Port Elizabeth, South Africa. After a university music education he became known on the jazz and dance theatre scenes. It was Ngqawana who was chosen to present music \u2013 a 100-piece ensemble \u2013 at the inauguration of president Nelson Mandela in 1994. He released his debut studio album, San Song<\/a><\/em>, in 1996. He would tour the world with his band Ingoma and work with the likes of Wynton Marsalis<\/a>, Abdullah Ibrahim<\/a> and Hugh Masekela<\/a>, in turn mentoring a new generation of South African musicians. He later established a school, the Zimology Institute.<\/p>\n

Ngqawana\u2019s biography<\/a> and his achievements<\/a> are well known. <\/p>\n

Recalling him on the 10th anniversary of his death is to remember how a South African jazz musician\u2019s life and death, in a country that generally treats the arts \u2013 and especially jazz \u2013 as an inconvenience outside of Heritage Day, could resonate so widely.<\/p>\n

Ngqawana\u2019s sound \u2013 indebted to Xhosa<\/a> traditional musical, western art music and jazz \u2013 fills the silence that destruction leaves. Committed to creativity as healing<\/a>, Ngqawana\u2019s legacy continues long after his death. <\/p>\n

A long line of saxophonists<\/h2>\n

In the mid-1800s, Belgium\u2019s Adolphe Saxe<\/a> invented a strange instrument made of brass but which, because of how it produces sound, is classified as a woodwind instrument: the saxophone. <\/p>\n

The hybrid instrument was adopted by jazz, a genre that has always embraced hybridity. For jazz scholar Chris Merz, the saxophone in South African jazz<\/a> became prominent from the 1930s, part of the American Swing craze. <\/p>\n

The 1950s saw the global decline of big bands and rise of smaller jazz combos. So began the reign of the alto saxophone in South African jazz, despite some growling intrusions from tenor saxophonists like Winston Mankunku<\/a>. This is why South African jazz can speak of Ntemi Piliso<\/a>, Kippie Moeketsi<\/a>, Gwigwi Mrwebi<\/a>, Barney Rachabane<\/a>, Duke Makasi<\/a>, Robbie Jansen<\/a> and Dudu Pukwana<\/a> to name but a few.<\/p>\n

It is also why it can speak of Zim Ngqawana.<\/p>\n

A self-made brand<\/h2>\n

We may consider Ngqawana as a \u2018self-made\u2019 brand. Through his creations like Zimphonic Suites, Vadzimu, Zimology, Aphorizims, Zimphony Orchestra and the Zimology Institute, he crafted his own public persona in such a way that the culture industry had to follow rather than shape it for him. <\/p>\n