…or discovering him.
Arguably one of South Africa’s two pre-eminent improvising pianists, Bheki Mseleku was also an arresting saxophonist and vocalist.
His music deserves to be much more widely known.
Anyone who deeply admires Abdullah Ibrahim, McCoy Tyner and John Coltrane is highly likely to appreciate Bheki Mseleku.
This is an absolutely solo, unedited “live” performance in Bath, England in June 1992.
I could scarcely believe my ears when I first heard this, 28 years ago.
It deeply moves me, still.
Bheki Mseleku’s life was blighted by Apartheid, by diabetes and by poverty, but it was not merely tragic.
Click here for a biography.
Then, I suggest you read this – a much more intimate/informal remembrance.
If you subscribe to one of the major streaming services you could choose to hear Meera-Ma (Divine Mother) – and most of Mseleku’s commercially-issued recordings – via higher quality audio than YouTube provides.
As John Fordham once observed in The Guardian, even alone – playing piano with one hand and tenor sax with the other – Mseleku sounded “as if he could be playing for a dance at one moment, for an act of worship at another”.
He was also, as Fordham noted, “a gifted and generous ensemble player”.
From Celebration – his debut release, issued in 1992 – Mseleku’s Angola is a good example of his jubilant ensemble aspect.
Michael Bowie played bass, Marvin “Smitty” Smith drums and Eddie Parker flutes.