Jazz legends get their act together

Masekela and Pillay unite after 50 years, writes

IT WILL be a night to remember when Hugh Masekela and Shunna (Sonny) Pillay take to the stage together in Durban later this month. Both are musical icons, able to complement each other seamlessly.

For his part, Pillay is confident the magic he experienced with Masekela a lifetime ago will still be there.

“We shared the stage over 50 years ago when we both performed in the African Jazz and Variety Show,” he recalled.

Reflecting with nostalgia on that great show, Pillay said: “The talent we had at that time is, I believe, the best we ever had. Imagine Hugh Masekela, Miriam Makeba and Dorothy Masuka together on stage. They were really big names.” Pillay is proud to have made his own contribution to such a starspangled line-up.

“We toured the whole country in 1952, performing in many major city halls. We spent a month in Durban alone in July.”

The accolades they received were endless – every show was a sell-out.

“I don’t think such a show has ever been repeated or surpassed. The 70 people who took part in the African Jazz and Variety Show were the best in the country,” he said.

Pillay may be tiny in stature, but he sings with great power, and he clearly has some powerful opinions. To his mind it seems that many shows nowadays are “barren” as far as entertainment goes. He goes so far as to say they might be considered “boring”.

“Entertainment is very different now to how it was then,” he said. When he watches modern-day concerts worldwide on television, he said he found the whole music scene not to his taste.

“We are just two old codgers,” he said, referring to himself and Masekela, “but nobody seems to have taken things forward. I feel there is no individuality.”

Many of the stars of the African Jazz and Variety Show were to leave South Africa. Pillay left in 1959. Asked about