Jonas Gwangwa embodied South Africa’s struggle for a national culture
MUSIC is not a zero-sum game with only one ‘best’. But if you seek to name one musician whose life embodies the South African people’s struggle for a national culture, it must be trombonist, composer and cultural activist Jonas Mosa Gwangwa, who was born on 19 October 1937 in Orlando East, Johannesburg, and died on 23 January 2021 in Johannesburg aged 83. GWEN ANSELL, Associate of the Gordon Institute for Business Science, University of Pretoria Through 65 years on stage, Gwangwa’s playing contributed to every genre of South African jazz. Overseas, he was hailed as player, producer and composer. Yet…