Farewell to Cyril Ngcukana: Mr Personality, pianist and player at life
SO THE wonderful and silky Mr Personality has departed!
So Sad The Song That Says Goodbye and these lyrics from Teddy Pendergrass welled me up emotionally when I heard the news about the passing of Cyril Thulani Ngcukana.
My knowledge and the time I spent with him go way back home because both of us were born and bred in Langa location and we were neighbours and friends.
Cyril, as we called him, at an early age came to realise and display his talent as a musician. This was not by accident, given the fact that he is from the legendarily musical Ngcukana family.
His first instruments were a guitar and a Melodica, from which he played songs from artists such as The Movers, Roberta Flack, Donny Hathaway, Marvin Gaye, Gibson Kente, The Beatles, The Temptations, Letta Mbuli and Hugh Masekela.
Besides being a musical prodigy, he was a very handsome dude, who had a perfect eye for both style and elegance, a feature that comes in handy for those who wish to become fashionistas professionally. In short, his taste for clothes was magnificent.
I distinctly remember when we were studying at Zimasa Higher Primary School and a beauty and Mr Personality competition was held.
When he came out on the catwalk, he impressed the audience by showcasing his superb talents as both a dancer and a stylish dresser. Most spectators were bowled over by his display, but just wait till I finish this story.
One of the contenders took to the stage and imitated Cyril by trying to dance like him, and we all burst into laughter because we could see that he was no match for Cyril’s dancing skills.
To our surprise, his contender continued dishing out Cyril’s style of dancing to the end. But the sweet ending to this competition was that the former became runner-up no 1 to Cyril.
Besides his dancing style, Cyril was gifted as an acrobat. His body was thinly built and enabled him to have the reflexes of a cat, hence we called him My Kind.
This dude also got arrested in 1976 for his political activities and was held in detention without trial for a year. When he came back from detention he had lost interest in school and decided to pursue a musical career as a pianist.
In fact, the piano finally became his main instrument and he ended up playing it professionally. In the late 1970s and early 1980s he played with a number of bands that were performing at various nightclubs in Cape Town.
With the experience that he amassed, he was the co-founder of a band called Peto.
This band became a household name in South Africa and it gave birth to the legendary Ringo Madlingozi, who was one of Cyril’s understudy musicians. Unfortunately, the group split up, but Cyril continued nurturing his craft further, despite this setback.
We all know the challenges that various musicians face in South Africa financially. Cyril studied and passed an electronics technician’s course. That ensured that he was able to supplement his fluctuating income as a musician, because he installed and repaired televisions and music centres.
Eventually, he got married to Thakane, and she gave birth to three lovely kids. Unfortunately, for reasons best known by both partners, the marriage broke down and eventually they divorced.
This setback took a huge piece out of him, in that his life took a turn for the worse.
Irrespective of this and other setbacks in his life, the most admirable thing about Cyril was that he never complained, but maintained a very happy, outgoing personality. In short, I don’t remember hearing nor witnessing him being involved in a fight with anybody.
The last time I saw Cyril was only last week at the funeral of his nephew, and he was in high spirits and dressed in what I would call “Can’t Get” clothes, and that was his way of showing to us that “I can still dress elegantly when given an opportunity”.
My parting shot to my brother and a gifted musician: may Southern Comfort lyrically comfort you, for I know that Joe Sample would lyrically welcome you after Herbie Hancock had telepathically sent you the legendary Cantaloupe Island music sheet, so that he can musically rest in peace eternally. Wiseman Nako Langa Location