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The new jazz wunderkind

Elvis Kekana's album is sensitive, mature and brimming with of pride in his roots

FOR a long time there was a dearth of jazz, effectively rendering exponents of the genre stranded with all their talent and skills.

But visionaries like Peter Tladi chose to tackle the challenge head-on by starting an artists' management group that later led to jazz events.

It was not long before another important player in the jazz arena, by the name of Damon Forbes, emerged.

The turn-around was immediate. Jazz musicians, most of whom were languishing in shebeens or engaged in activities of those who have a lot of time on their hands, suddenly got a new lease on life. They were playing with their now in demand skills by making sweet musical melodies.

It was inevitable for gifted, tenacious and young musicians like Elvis Kekana to become the new jazz wunderkind on the block.

Riding the crest of his newly dropped debut offering, Kekana has outdone himself. The album is sensitive, mature and brimming with of pride in his roots.

Mamabolo is a hearty celebration and outpouring of praises that, in a nutshell, gives you a history of Kekana's forefathers as he draws them to centre stage.

An African exercise that shows pride in who we are and where we come from as we elevate our individual families and the generations that bore them.

"Recording this album was a bit of a challenge. At the time, I was not working nor did I have the means to pay for studio time, my musicians or the instrument we needed to make good music with. I had a dream and therefore needed to persevere to realise it," recalls the driven muso.

He says things turned around when he started working for the Department of Arts and Culture in his current job at the Department of Trade and Industry.

"Suddenly I was in a position to buy myself instruments, hook a band together and record an album. Most of the guys come from either Atteridgeville or Sunnyside in Pretoria.

"We recorded an album and felt that the first track should be dedicated to thanking my grandfather after whom I was named, hence the praise singing of my family's surname.

"The song is a heartfelt request for the Kekanas ba Mamabolo to continue opening doors for me," he says of the instrumental offering that showcases their skills while doing what jazz does, wreaking havoc with aficionados' feelings, thus heightening their sense of appreciation.

ElviKK, as the band is called, is the result of Kekana's curiosity and early flirtation with music.

"My brother used to have a band and every time I came back from school I would find them rehearsing.

"Initially I was just a curious bystander who looked with keen interest at the manner in which the band handled their instruments. After a while my brother's friends allowed me to tinker with the instruments.

"I suppose this exercise honed my expertise in handling of instrument and sealed my love for music while stoking my ambitions to have my own band.

"Today I am a fulfilled person because my dream is coming together," explains the Pretorian, who has already started work on his next album.

"I wish I could say that is the end of the story but it's not. I want to conquer the markets here at home and other parts of Africa before I spread my wings internationally," he vows.

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