Cape Jazz Band Project

Hamburg - May 2018 Jack Momple on the 5th Edition of the Cape Jazz album series. Jack Momple (drums) and Mervyn Africa (piano). (c) P Lee-Thorp Jack and I go back to the days of Pacific Express in the mid-1970s and I know him as a creative and dependable drummer and a gentleman. I work with him at every opportunity I get. Being a drummer Jack did not qualify to contribute to a compilation featuring the solo piano but he is the musical leader of the band behind this project so I invited him to sit in with Mervyn Africa to record a couple of versions of the two of the classics of the genre - 7th Avenue (he actually played on the original of the song recorded by Jonathan Butler) and Abdullah Ibrahim's, Mannenberg (which featured Monty Weber on drums on the Dollar Brand original). The two musicians jammed together in the studio on various takes of the two songs with the idea of using one of the tracks as a bonus cut on the CD version of this album. Two of the takes we

October 2018 - My experience of MIKE PERRY - Mike Perry in the studio in April 2018 , (c) P Lee-Thorp Mike Perry and his Nkomo Records label have been known to me for a long time though it was not until about the mid 1990s that we did any business.  Nkomo Records was a project and partnership between Mike and the late saxophone guru Winston Mankunku but perhaps more importantly it brought the two musicians together to record and compose the music for several albums. I was fortunate to have represented the Nkomo titles for digital distribution and publishing in all territories outside South Africa, a privilege that continues until today. A former business partner and true gentleman, Donald Graham introduced Mike to me shortly after the release of the Mankunku/Perry album called, Jika . I knew that Mike was a piano player who specialised in solo piano and who worked in SA and Switzerland playing many of the jazz standards. But his collaboration with Mankunku on the track Kha

My experience of - RAMON ALEXANDER – Ramon Alexander in the studio April 2018. (c) P Lee-Thorp I know Ramon because Jack Momple introduced him to me as a possible keyboard player to record some tracks for the 4 th edition of an album series in 2012. Jack and Robbie Jansen had played with him at various live gigs in and around Cape Town. I actually got to know him at Lionel Temmers' small holding outside Atlantis, W Cape, where Jack had his house and where the first rehearsals for the recordings of our 4th edition of this album series took place. When we met there was Errol Dyers on guitar, Stephen Erasmus on bass, Jack on drums and Ramon on keyboards. I liked what I heard and approached him to come to the studio to contribute to the Cape Jazz Band album. Previously Ramon had sent his debut CD,  Picnic at Kontiki  to me and we first met briefly in Glenn Robertson's club in Claremont. I had liked the album and particularly liked the Cape influenced tracks.

My experience of KYLE SHEPHERD. Kyle Shepherd in the studio April 2018, (c) P Lee-Thorp Kyle and my youngest son were at school together and when Kyle started to make waves in the Cape Town jazz scene my son reminded me that Kyle's performance abilities go a long way back. I only got to work with him in 2007 when he was gigging with one of Robbie Jansen's band line-ups. In fact the first gig he did for me was at a jazz festival in Malaysia, in a slot that was meant for Robbie. Due to Robbie's lung problems, he was not allowed to travel, so the band under Jack Momple's leadership, later to become known as the Cape Jazz Band (CJB), were booked to take to the slot. That event was followed about a year later with a short tour to France where Kyle recorded a couple of songs and appeared with Jack, the late Alex van Heerden and bass player Jonathan Rubain, in festival shows. At one of the recording sessions the band recorded a version the Cape traditional, Die Maa

My experience of Hilton Schilder. Hilton Schilder in the studio April 2018 (c) P Lee-Thorp Hilton and I have worked together quite a lot, both in the studio and at concert performances. I forget if it was Robbie Jansen that introduced Hilton to me or if it was Hilton's dad, Tony. However as far as recording goes it was Robbie who told me he was playing with Hilton. When it came to re-issuing Robbie's debut solo album, Vastrap Island , I wanted to add extra tracks to the CD version and Robbie suggested Hilton had a couple of compositions that he and the Sons of Table Mountain (as their combined live act was known) were playing and that I should take a listen to these. So it was that Hilton's composition, Umfanekiso Nyanyeni was the first track we recorded together and it went onto the CD version of Robbie Jansen's debut album. I knew of Hilton before this and in particular about his performances with The Genuines and their work with Lloyd Ross at his Shifty

03/05/18 My experience of - MERVYN AFRICA Mervyn Africa in the studio in April 2018 (c) Songwrights Publishers I should have known and worked with Mervyn Africa before 2018 because of his roots in Cape Town music, notably with the group  Oswietie  and his performances with the band,  Spirits Rejoice , both of which featured my long time colleague and artistic collaborator, Robbie Jansen.  But he left town for London in the 1980s, too soon for us to have hooked up, though I knew of his career and success as a jazz musician performing alongside of some of the big names in jazz, and notably his performances with some of the South African (SA) musician exiles. Sometime in about 2015, I think it was, we exchanged email addresses via Facebook and we lamented the fact that we had never worked together. He seems to be spending more time in the Cape and the fact that I was planning to be in Cape Town in early 2018 resulted in us getting together. A new edition of

23/1/ 2019 My experience of Ebrahim Khalil Shahib (only part of his story) Ebrahim Khalil Shihab in the studio Cape Town April 2018. (c) Patrick Lee-Thorp I first ran into Chris Schilder (as he was known then) in 1975 when he had teamed up with two of his wonderfully talented brothers, Jacky and Philly, for our company to book them for gig at a “homeland” Casino in the north of the Republic. Only once they had got back and I had sat with him and his piano, did I fully realise who I was actually dealing with. I was already something of a fan because I had an LP of his. This self taught pianist with an amazingly fluid style was also a natural composer who I felt was going to make a mark on South Africa Jazz. As it turned out it was a soul ballad, Give a Little Love , that made him famous, at least in the music business. But the depth of the rest of his work at the time put him on the road to becoming a respected jazzman. I only know part of the history, but it was

Hamburg 10/10/2018 - Delayed release. After months of recording, mixing, compiling, editing and publishing paperwork, the track list of the fifth part of this album series has been fixed. The album is entitled, CAPE JAZZ PIANO. The tracks were sent to the download server in the USA together with the sleeve front on the 1st of October. There was a bump in the road as one of the pianists, Mike Perry has the same name as a DJ who is apparently quite famous, and their legal people have set up a block on the name. We are clearing this as I write. The CD album sleeve. (c) Songwrights Publishers. 2018 There are 10 main tracks as solo piano and a bonus track by a trio. From the label site - http://www.releases.music-production-ideas.com/?fbclid=IwAR2qnjcvUKCb7SHkTbhxclpYTZazl0alKDhvYALu36RQ8XkIthVJzOJiWUc#capejazzpiano TRACKLIST 1 - Mervyn Africa - Spirit of the Wind (M. Africa) 2:58 2 - Ramon Alexander – Montreal (A. Schilder) 5:23 3 - Hilton Schilder - Khoi