HE WAS a trailblazer. A musician at a time when the apartheid regime was at its most violent and arguably most oppressive. Cape Town musician Zayn Adam would sing on stage with white acts, his band already packing away their instruments as soon as the show ended, knowing the police were already on their way.
“The cops followed Zayn around everywhere,” said Ismail Buffkins, the singer’s childhood friend.
“It must’ve been all the white girls that hung around with the band,” he added laughing.
Early Monday, Adam – who has been part the Mother City’s music industry for the past 50 years – died after suffering a heart attack. While he had been struggling with illness for a while, the 68-year-old looked like he was making a recovery the day before his death, said his family.
By lunchtime hundreds of mourners had gathered in the cul-de-sac outside his yellow house on Keppel Street in Walmer Estate. A long line of people snaked through the house, each one hoping to pay their respects to the musician.
Standing outside, the singer’s close friend and producer, Alistair Izobell, wept in the sun-washed street.
The past three years had been a renaissance for Adam, who with the help of Izobell was reintroduced to South African audiences through a variety of shows.
He performed at the Baxter last week.
“I was watching the footage this morning and he still looked so energetic and full of life.”
He was set to perform with his band Pacific Express at this weekend’s Jazz on The Rocks and the Cape Town International Jazz Festival next month.
His death had come too soon, said his friend Boebie Hamza.
Members of the band sat in the shade of an adjacent house. They didn’t want to speak, the emotion clear in their voices as they held back tears.
Adam was born in Salt River in 1947 and began playing the guitar when he was just 11.
Music ran in his family.
His father and brother captained a Cape Malay choir, The Celtics Singkoor. At 15, he had already turned “pro”, joining the Golden City Dixies carnival show.
In an interview with the Cape Argus he described his rise to fame.
“I was standing on a ladder washing windows when I was given a telephone number to call. Three weeks later I was on a train to Joburg where I joined Majiet Omars, the Bing Crosby of the 50s, in Stars of Africa. I was in a calypso trio.”
His band Pacific Express had its roots in the Cape Flats where it was formed during the 1970s. The jazz-rock outfit suffered under apartheid. During Australian act John Paul Young’s tour of the country in 1977 Pacific Express were asked to leave the stage because the law at the time forbade performers of different races to share the stage.
But the band stood its ground and the police eventually backed down.
“I’ll tell you something, if it wasn’t for apartheid Zayn would’ve been world-famous,” said Buffkins.
He said Adam’s local hit Give A Little Love would have “taken over the US charts”.
Buffkins returned to the crowd that had gathered outside Adam’s yellow house. Among those who had come to pay their respects was Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille who wrote in a statement “Adam blessed Cape Town, South Africa and the world with his mesmerising, soulful voice and we are forever thankful for his contribution to Cape Town music and its rich history”.
Cape International Jazz Festival chief executive Rashid Lombard said it was a sad day for the city.
“But his legacy will always be here.”
From Twitter
• Patricia de Lille: Zayn Adam truly blessed Cape Town, SA and the world with his mesmerising voice and we are forever thankful.
• Marc Lottering: Zayn Adam, we mourn your loss. A Phenomenal talent.
• Ian Bredenkamp: RIP SA soul legend #ZayneAdam you made music that crossed racial divide when very few in SA could. #PacificExpress
• Wicus van der Merwe: Great performer, great voice & wonderful man!#respect
• Kurt Schoonraad: Wow! Sad to hear about legend Zayn Adam’s passing. RIP Bru!!
• Eric Alan: Just heard the very sad news that legendary South African vocalist Zayn Adam passed on just after midnight last.
• Guy McDonald: Remembering a Legend! ZAYN ADAM Rest in Peace. Our condolences to his family. Music is the Soul of our Society.
• Steve Hofmeyr: My liedjie “4X4” op Toeka2 was hulde aan Zayn Adam se You Gotta Live. Ek hoop gerugte oor sy dood is onwaar. Hy is so 68j oud.
Cape Argus