Johnny Mekoa’s selflessness will live on through his academy and apprentices
The world of music is richer thanks to this talented musician who developed experts
Until I first met him in 1987, I had assumed the trumpeter Johnny Mekoa had long passed away - like his former bandmate Victor Ndlazilwana.
Thanks to our neighbour and jazz aficionado Uncle S’khuni I knew about Mekoa, but then he disappeared.
My first meeting with him was about finding out why he had disappeared from the limelight: at the age 42, he had quit his job, left his family behind on the East Rand and travelled to Durban where he started working towards a Bachelor of Music at the newly established department of jazz at the University of Natal.
This is the selflessness, focus and commitment to jazz that many who knew him will continue talking about, now that Mekoa has passed on. He died on Monday afternoon at his house in Crystal Park, Johannesburg.
His artistic journey has been long and arduous. Born in Etwatwa, Benoni, in 1945, Ramakgobotla John Mekoa developed a passion for jazz music at an early age.
In 1964 he tried to enrol for a course in music but was turned away because he was black. Mekoa was shattered, but held on to his dream. His brother gave him jazz lessons at random.
From there on, Mekoa became a constant presence at Dorkay House, an arts centre in downtown Johannesburg, where he jammed with musicians.
They performed at restaurants and nightclubs, which culminated in Mekoa founding a band called The Jazz Ministers in 1967.
In 1970, the group was joined by saxophonist Victor Ndlazilwana. Mekoa deferred to the more experienced Ndlazilwana, and allowed him to take over as band leader. Ndlazilwana’s composing genius propelled the band into a new and unique direction.
In 1972, The Jazz Ministers released the album Nomvula’s Dance. Three years later, they released the now anthemic Zandile.
Their international breakthrough came at an awkward time: in June 1976, the very month that Soweto erupted in protest and bloodshed, The Ministers got to perform at the Newport Jazz Festival in the US.
Their drawcard at the festival was Nomvula Ndlazilwana, the leader’s daughter who, at the age of 15, was the band’s pianist.
While still in the US, The Ministers were invited to participate in the bicentennial celebrations of US independence. As part of the celebrations, the South African government had sent its warship to the US.
When The Ministers were invited to perform on the warship, they refused.
Within hours after arriving back home, Mekoa was detained and interrogated by the security police.
After Ndlazilwana’s death in 1978, Mekoa assumed leadership of The Ministers. In 1984 they released the brilliant Ndize Bonono Na?.
Then in 1987, Mekoa went back to school at the age of 42. While at university, he became a member of The Jazzanians, a band constituted of students from the university’s jazz programme. Members included the likes of Feya Faku, Lex Futshane, Zim Ngqawana, Lulu Gontsana, Victor Masondo and others.
After graduating, Mekoa obtained a Fulbright Scholarship to study for a master’s degree in music at the University of Indiana in the US. On his return, he established the Music Academy of Gauteng in 1994.
The academy has become a centre of jazz excellence, having produced such luminaries as Malcolm Jiyane and Dumisani Nxumalo.
When his daughter Malebo Mekoa told Sowetan early this week that he was “a father to those who are fatherless”, I couldn’t agree more.
His selflessness will live on through the music academy he established, and the many musicians he brought to life.