The Best of Tete Mbambisa

Although he was very influential in many jazz musicians in South Africa, jazz pianist and composer Tete Mbambisa is one of our overlooked legends.

The first time I bought an album by Tete, was round about in 1979. Titled - "Did You Tell Your Mother". It was on casette. In fact I still have the casette case, but the casette is gone.

I did not know about Tete then, but the reasoning for buying it - Basil was playing on it.

The album was also released on cd. Currently it is very difficult to find, so if you see one, do not hesitate to buy it.
The musicians on this album are:
Tete Mbambisa - Piano
Basil "Manenberg" Coetzee - Tenor Sax and Flute
Zulu Bidi - Bass
Monty Weber - Drums

Sadly, except Tete, all these great musicians have passed on.

Rashid Vally was responsible for most of Tete's recordings and I think is also sitting on some of Tete's unreleased material. Today you rarely see any of Tete's music in the music shops.

The good news is that Tete recently compiled a cd which contain tracks from his albums:
Tete's Big Sound
Did You Tell Your Mother
Brothers

It is titled The Best of Tete Mbambisa.

This is the track listing:
Umtshakazi
Dembese
Unity
Black Heroes
Thembile's Workshop
Past Time
Nelson
Stay Cool
Trane Ride
Zukile

The cd is available from Tete. If you are interested in buying a copy, Please call me on 0833107556 or email me on capetownnatural@gmail.com

Posted in: Tete Mbambisa