MAKEBA’S CHILDREN SING FOR HER
LATE music iconic Miriam Makeba’s legacy and birthday will be celebrated through a jazz concert by her grandchildren tonight.
Granddaughter Zenzi Makeba-Lee has teamed up with her brother Lumumba Lee and her sons Lindelani Lee and Kwame Mkhize to celebrate Makeba’s musical legacy at the Orbit Jazz Club in Braamfontein.
The performance will also feature other musicians as well as vocalist and trombonist Siya Makuzeni.
Makeba, who died in November 2008, would have turned 85 on Saturday March 4.
Makeba-Lee said the performance was important to keep her grandmother’s legacy alive and that of great musicians like Dorothy Masuka, Abigail Kubeka and Dolly Rathebe. She said they will perform songs of the four legendary musicians and their own compositions.
“My grandmother was a great singer and I know if she was still alive she would have celebrated her special day with her friends, that is why the musical performance will celebrate the music of all these women.
“She was an artist, a mother, a grandmother, an activist, a philanthropist, a goodwill ambassador, a humanitarian and a contributor to social and cultural development worldwide.
“Protecting her legacy is protecting the history of South Africa and Africa in the world, in the field of music and beyond, as well as the example she gave of commitment to the most vulnerable among us,” she said.