Tshona is Pat Matchikiza's big hit and I associate it with good times at the legendary Rainbow Restaurant & Jazz Club in Pinetown established by Ben Pretorius. The band 'ACC' was originally formed as a trio with Victor Ntoni and Lulu Gontsana in 1989 and we played at the very first Grahamstown Jazz Festival as both a headliner band with Duke, as well as a house rhythm section backing soloists such as Barney Rachabane, Winston Mankunku, Johnny Fourie and Donald Tshomela. Duke appeared with the earliest "Afro-Cool Concept", which performed all over South Africa and travelled by bus to Harare with Sakhile and Steve Newman to play at a major jazz festival there. Years Ago is a wistful, beautiful ballad by Duke Makasi that I still play. This version by Afro-Cool Concept is from Still On My Mind (2003) and my wife, Cathy took the photo that appears on the back all those years ago. Composed in Connecticut as Winter Dreams, I changed the title when on a sunny ride through the lovely hills and cane fields of KwaZulu-Natal, we came across the Tugela Rail siding and trading store. Gabriel "Mabi" Thobejani (percussion), Nelson Magwaza (drums) and Barney Rachabane, completed the studio band. I drove up to Joburg with Sandile Shange (guitar) and Marc Duby (bass) who were both in the first band I put together in Durban when I joined the music department at the University of Natal (now University of KwaZulu-Natal). A vinyl 'maxi-single' of Tugela Rail was my first South African recording, made back in 1983 and long out of print. (see notes on each track below.) Titles: Tugela Rail, Years Ago, Tshona, Nombelelo, Mamazala, Sad Song, Kwela Mama, Lakutshoni'langa, Daveyton Special 1. The oldest come from an NPR recording made at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in 1990 and the most recent (the two with guitarist Sandile Shange)were studio recordings made in 2003. The 'other tracks' refered to in the title are, in effect, tributes to some of the local jazz musicians who were bandstand colleagues and friends for a substantial period of my life - nearly a quarter of a century from 1983 to 2005. (Full details are available at .) 'Tugela Rail' and 'Daveyton Special' are the only self-composed 'originals' on this CD. of KwaZuku-Natal) in Durban, formed the Centre for Jazz & Popular Music (1989) and remained Director until I retired from that job in 2005. I taught jazz at the University of Natal (later U. My groups toured internationally and of course played most of the major and minor festivals and clubs in South Africa. but why not buy it here and now? ORIGINAL ALBUM NOTES: TUGELA RAIL AND OTHER TRACKS This is a collection of well-known South African jazz numbers I often performed with these famous South African musicians. Arguably its most affecting moment remains “Zombie,” a dense, IRA-related protest song powered by Dolores O’Riordan’s keening, angst-fueled vocal – a formidable instrument in and of itself, and which has contributed to a stunning body of work left behind by the late, and deeply missed, singer.ADDITIONAL SPECIAL NOTE: The fact that you are reading this shows you are interested, so it is only fair to mention that this album is 10 years old, only a few unsold copies are left and when it's gone, it's gone. Though much darker in hue than their breakthrough debut, Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We?, Limerick quartet The Cranberries’ second LP, No Need To Argue, nonetheless sold a whopping 17 million copies worldwide. The Cranberries: Zombie (from No Need To Argue, 1994) As anyone who witnessed it can attest, Isn ’t Anything stand-out “Feed Me With Your Kiss” was always devastatingly good live. One of the most groundbreaking outfits of the late 80s, their twin peaks remain debut Isn’t Anything and 1991’s startling Loveless. My Bloody Valentine: Feed Me With Your Kiss (from Isn’t Anything, 1988)Īkin to sonic terrorists The Jesus And Mary Chain, proto-shoegazing Dublin quartet My Bloody Valentine somehow married delicious pop melodies with coruscating white noise.