Makaya Ntshoko

In 1962 three jazz musicians left South Africa and settled in exile in Switzerland, reports Gwen Ansell ( Business Day, Johannesburg ). The pianist Dollar Brand soon made his career encouraged and helped by Duke Ellington. The bassist Johnny Gertze returned to South Africa and died there. What then happened to the drummer Makaya Ntshoko? In his youth Ntshoko was undecided whether to make a career as a boxer or a musician. Then he joined the band Jazz Epistles and ended his boxing career. Later he played with the saxophonist Dudu Pukwana in the band Soul Giants. His extraordinary technique comprising both mainstream and risky polyrhythmic improvisations made him a sought after drummer in Europe. He played with Mal Waldron, Dexter Gordon, Joe Henderson, Irène Schweizer and many others. In the '70s he settled in Basel, Switzerland, and formed his own band, Makaya and the Tsotsis. With its most recent incarnation he performs in Johannesburg these days, after which he will play for one week at the District Six Museum in Cape Town.