Gilbert Matthews – a pioneer and a visionary of South African jazz
GWEN ANSELL, Associate of the Gordon Institute for Business Science, University of Pretoria SOUTH Africa has done little to acknowledge the passing of a jazz great and titan of drums, Gilbert Matthews. For Bra Gil, who brought credit to South Africa from a host of international jazz stages, the official silence remains deafening. Matthews was a visionary of the South African jazz scene. Although his beginnings were on the conventional Cape Town club jazz circuit, his talent took him across the world – he was, for a time, Ray Charles’ regular drummer – and the music he was exposed to…
