DENYS BAPTISTE QUARTET: HONOURING BHEKI MSELEKU - SPICE OF LIFE, 20 NOVEMBER '08 | FLY

The concert will include music from the South African musician’s first two albums, Celebration (1991) and Timelessness (1993).

This particular performance will be especially significant for Baptiste, whose first major professional gig was with Mseleku’s touring band throughout 1993 and 1994. This band also featured drummer Marvin ‘Smitty’ Smith and bass player Michael Bowie and supported big-name artists such as Courtney Pine and the Brecker Brothers.

Mseleku was born in South Africa in 1955, and travelled around Africa and Europe until he settled in London, playing his first gig at Ronnie Scott’s jazz club in 1987. He swiftly built a reputation as not only a great pianist and composer, but also a highly skilled guitarist and saxophonist. He gained international acclaim when his debut album (1991’s Celebration) was nominated for a Mercury Music Prize for Album of the Year.

A practising Buddhist, Mseleku had a non-political, peaceful outlook on life. Following his attention-grabbing appearance at Ronnie Scott’s in 1987, he consequently retired for 2 years of occasional teaching and contemplation in a Buddhist temple where he felt that if he evolved spiritually his music would have more depth.

Bheki Mseleku had battled with Diabetes for a long time, and though he had shown signs of recovery, he sadly passed away in London in September this year.

Featuring
Denys Baptiste — Saxophones
Andrew McCormack — Piano
Gary Crosby — Bass
Rod Youngs — Drums

Getting There
Spice Of Life
6 Moor Street, Soho, London W1
(Off Cambridge Circus & Charing Cross Road
next to the Palace Theatre)

Tube: Leicester Square / Tottenham Court Road
Enquiries/Pre-Booking: 020 7739 3025
<a href=”http://www.spiceoflifesoho.

Hi
I am Durbanite from a township adjacent to where Bheki grew up in South African.

Its great to see what the world is doing for our musical greats (recently passed away Miriam Makeba included). But it saddenes one to see how we in South Africa are treating some these used to be exiled artists. In South Africa, both persons mentioned (and others not mentiond) are either not known to us younger people or their work is not appreciated. Most people would blame apartheid and isolation years but the truth is that we need to be educated about our people who were inside or those that were outside our borders.

In Zulu as Bheki was coming from the Kingdom of the Zulu in Durbs we say “uyibekile induku ebandla” meaning his work was remarkable.