Kippie Moeketsi at 100: the soul-stirring story of a South African jazz legend
IT’S 100 years since the birth of reedman Jeremiah Morolong “Kippie” Moeketsi on 27 July 1925. He was one of the most influential saxophonists shaping South Africa’s modern jazz style. His death in poverty in 1983, when Black jazz in South Africa remained undervalued outside its community, meant his cultural legacy is only just coming into the light, and there is still no definitive biography. As a researcher and commentator on South African jazz history, I’ve written about the biographical landmarks of his life. A hundred years ago, South Africa was a British-ruled colonial state. Many of the race-based socio-economic…
