REGARDLESS of disputes about the etymology of the phrase, ‘real McCoy’ universally refers to ‘the real thing” or anything considered genuine.
This association of the headword with authenticity is extended in tsotsi taal or township lingua franca to make reference to anyone who is streetwise, or that has perfected a chosen path.
Listening or watching Cape Town-born saxophonist McCoy Mrubata perform there is little doubt that the 56-year old musician is a ‘real jazz McCoy’ who has honed his skill over the years.
This weekend from Friday to Sunday, Mrubata who is now based in Johannesburg since 1987, is on a whistle-stop tour in his home city. He performs in Gugulethu, Khayelitsha and Langa in a series of performances that form part of the Jazz in the Native Yard concerts.
Before his mother moved Gugulethu, the soft-spoken and slightly-built musician grew up in Langa, the city’s oldest township established for black African people. In 1978 he started to play for a band called Fever.
For almost a decade, Mrubata played fusion music in nightclubs around Cape Town. This is before he appeared as a supporting musician for Johannesburg-based outfits and musicians such as Harare, Stimela, PJ Powers and Hugh Masekela. “Although I have lived outside of the Mother City for close to 30 years, I always acknowledge that my musical roots are in the Cape Flats”, says the reed player from his adopted hometown of Ekurhuleni.
In his three performances, Mrubata will be accompanied by keyboard player Blake Hellaby, drummer Frank Paco and bassist Peter Ndlala.
He promises to dig deep in his musical well to communicate with audiences.
Mrubata’s musical philosophy is that South African musicians should resist commercial pressures to polish their music and make their sound too smooth.
He also believes that the country has a crop of dedicated musicians that deserve respect and appreciation of their efforts. “Those who refuse to acknowledge the musical depth that exists in the country must face the music,” says the musician, who was an amateur boxer in his teens.
Mrubata’s big brass sound is a potpourri of musical elements. He arranges his music in a polyphonic style, a technique of singing different parts simultaneously, used in Xhosa traditional songs or amagwijo.
Equally there is a Latin tinge in his music; something that he could not escape given his decade-long “club-life”’ stint at venues around the Cape in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Mrubata is also not afraid to incorporate definite mbaqanga inflections onto his compositions. His music attempts to capture the sounds that he grew up hearing on the Cape Flats.
In his performances, he always makes a point for him not to be mistaken for a Joburger. He deliberately mimics the accents that are heard in the Cape peninsula. He opts for slang used in Cape Town streets as he refers to his band mates as ‘gazi’. In a CD released in 2004, Mrubata dedicates Gazi’s Groove to his bosom friend and Cape Town-born pianist Paul Hanmer.
He also has a song that has become a real South African standard and that only Capetonians can relate to its title, Hoelykit.
On a serious note, Mrubata has composed songs dedicated to people who contributed to his musical upbringing.
In his 2002 album Face the Music, a composition titled Merton’s Place is dedicated to legendary Cape Town vibraphonist and music educator who runs a music-training institute called The Jazz Workshop. The song Raw Material is for Ezra Ngcukana, the late saxophonist who in 1980 persuaded the young Mrubata to switch to saxophone.
KwaLanga can also be found on the same CD.
Mrubata comes to Cape Town when his career is at its highpoint. His recording Brasskap Sessions Vol. 2 scooped the 2015 South African Music Award (Sama) for the jazz album of the year.
For the second time in two years, he led a successful US-tour with Uhadi, made up Hanmer, bassist Herbie Tsoaeli, trumpeter Feya Faku and drummer Justin Badenhorst.
In May this year, Mrubata was also part of a South African/ Dutch exchange band that went to perform at The Amersfoort Jazz Festival in Netherlands.
As soon as he was back in the country, he launched his DVD titled McCoy Mrubata-Live at the Market Theatre, shot during the International Jazz Day in April, 2015.
The saxophonist’s appearance in the city this weekend is historic in other respects. During the turbulent days of 1976, he picked up a pennywhistle.
Forty years later, his sound has grown ‘phatter’ as he switched to instruments with more musical scope, such as the saxophone as his first instruments.
His long musical career has not obliterated in his head the sounds of big jazz band sounds that he heard as a youngster in Langa and Gugulethu.
The gigs you can see him live this Friday from 7pm at Kwa Sec, Ny 138 no. 52 Gugulethu, in Khayelitsha from 3pm on Saturday at Moholo Livehouse at Ncumo Street, Harare, or at Guga S’thebe Cultural Centre, Washington/Dr Langalibalele Avenue in Langa on Sunday at 3pm.
The saxman’s Homecoming performances are part of the Concerts SA Venue Circuit which aims to foster a love and support for live music in our communities, as well as anchor small and medium sized venues in urban and rural Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape.
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