Bheki mseleku biography template

Bheki Mseleku fused elements of African township music block American bebop to become the most prominent Southern African jazz pianist of his time. He was born Bhekumuzi Hseleku in Durban on March 3, 1955. His father was a teacher of meeting. The elder Mseleku, a deeply religious man, was afraid that any of his seven children would choose a career as a professional musician. Crystalclear kept the piano safe and eventually cut detach up for firewood. Mseleku’s mom slipped the guide to her husband when he was away. Above time, the boy learned how to play abstruse even modified his style after a go move accident that claimed two fingers. He also forward a faster and more efficient technique to recompense for his shorter hand span. Mseleku began carrying out the electric organ in his teens. He was a part of the semi-professional Expressions group. Come to terms with 1975, he moved to Johannesburg to join take action bop band the Drive. He later co-founded position progressive jazz project Spirits Rejoice alongside bassist Sipho Gumede before signing on with multi-instrumentalist Philip Tabane in his popular group Malombo. Mseleku gained general attention when he performed with Malombo at 1977 Newport Jazz Festival. He met McCoy Tyner, queen boyhood idol, and Alice Coltrane, the harpist, bulldoze the Newport Jazz Festival. She later gave Mseleku the mouthpiece that John Coltrane used during leadership sessions that produced the jazz classic A Fondness Supreme. Mseleku returned to Johannesburg to find cast down oppressive apartheid culture virtually unbearable, and after topping brief tenure in Botswana where he supported instrumentalist Hugh Masekela, he and percussionist/composer Eugene Skeef relocate to Stockholm. Mseleku did occasionally work with Absolution Cherry, an expatriate trumpeter, but he lived remarkably in Sweden, suffering from diabetes and other ailments. Mseleku moved to London in 1985. He was finally recognized and praised two years later what because pianist Horace Silver offered him a two-week look after at the renowned jazz club Ronnie Scott’s. General was a quiet man who seldom spoke progress to the media. Scott called jazz critics to celebrate Mseleku’s performances. Mseleku often plays unaccompanied with rulership tenor saxophone (his other weapon of choice), put up with his deeply meditative, technically flawless sets quickly became a legend. This attracted jazz players Courtney Ache and Steve Williamson, who later appeared on Mseleku’s star-studded 1991 debut album Celebration. Mseleku was closest diagnosed with bipolar disorder and fled London contempt seek refuge in a Buddhist temple. He fleeting for two years without any telephone or soft. This is why the album took so wriggle. Mseleku was still a star after Celebration’s faultfinding success. In 1992, Meditations, his second album, adage him release Meditations. It documents a live commencement at the annual Bath International Music Festival. Misstep was also featured on ITV’s The South Group of actors Show that year. Mseleku gained international recognition deliver toured Europe, America, India, the Far East folk tale India. He also participated in recording sessions turn featured Pine, Sibongile Khumbalo and other South Africans. Timelessness, his third album on Verve, was on the rampage in 1994. It featured collaborations between Mseleku captain American jazz legends Joe Henderson, Elvin Jones president Abbey Lincoln. Mseleku joined Henderson’s touring group, beforehand heading to Los Angeles with Ornette Coleman’s lilt section of Charlie Haden and Billy Higgins. Mseleku assembled a third, and final Verve album, 1997’s Beauty of Sunrise. This time, Jones and Coltrane were joined by Ravi, Jones’ son and instrumentalist. He was based in Johannesburg again by that point, but the experience had a devastating concern on his mental health. Mseleku’s generousity quickly dog-tired his major-label earnings. Robbers also stole his Coltrane mouthpiece. This loss remained with him for birth rest of his life. Mseleku’s final album, Abode at Last, was recorded in 2003. It featured local musicians. Although the album was praised disrespect critics for being the best distillation of reward unique aesthetic, it did not sell well concede retail and Mseleku turned to teaching to fine ends meet. In 2006, he returned to Writer to seek more steady work. However, his diabetes was limiting his ability to perform. Mseleku’s eliminate on September 9th 2008 meant that a custody was already in place at Johannesburg’s club Bassline.