| Q: |
When did you start? |
| A: |
1976 in Cape Town playing a Pennywhistle. It was the year
of uprisings and there was no school. All you could do was
to attend political meetings at the burnt down schools. I
would practice after the meetings because they would easily
necklace you because they would think you are impimpi. Then
in 1979 my mother saved some money and bought me a Flute,
little did I know that I was going to pursue my musical career
fulltime. |
| Q: |
What was your first musical experience and what
made you pick up the saxophone? |
| A: |
My local heroes like Skyf who used to perform in local
halls. Robert Sithole played Flute and Pennywhisle in Skyf
and ge would give me lessons on Flute. Ezra Ngcukana of Ngcukana
Brother also used to play in Skyf, he latter gave me lessons
in Saxophone. My mother used to run a shebeen and I listened
to a lot of diverse music from the early age. At the sheeben
they used to play Winston Mankunku Ngozi, Grover Washington,
Sonny Rollins, and others. |
| Q: |
Who is you all time music icon? |
| A: |
Saxophonist Winston Mankunku Ngozi |
| Q: |
Any extraordinary moments you recall from the
early years of your career? |
| A: |
Sharing a stage with my teachers Robert Sithole and Ezra
Ngcukana. It was magical. |
| Q: |
Where are you originally from? |
| A: |
Gugulethu, Cape Town. There is quite a number of great musicians
who come from the township. Mankunku himself, the late Jazz
singer Don Tshomela. |
| Q: |
When did you move to Jozi and why? |
| A: |
1987. I was invited by Sipho ‘Hotsticks’ Mabuse
to join his then band Harare. |
| Q: |
What is your obligation to your fans? |
| A: |
To perform to the best of my ability and to make it worth
the listen. People invest a lot in musicians: time and money
therefore one has to make sure they are satisfied. |
Q: |
What is you take on substance abuse and do you
thing that enough is being done to discourage usage? |
A: |
A lot has been said about abstinence. The tragedy is that
at times the people who are in the forefront of some of these
campaign still fail to practice what they preach. The truth
is that people today can see what drugs to and surely they
know they need to abstain. |
