Jazz trumpeter Mandla Mlangeni and his band, The Tune Recreation Committee, are currently on a tour and will be launching their new album, Afrika Grooves With The TRC, on Friday at the Roving Bantu Kitchen in Brixton and then on Saturday at the Eyethu Lifestyle Centre in Soweto, and Ginz On Dynasty in Sandton.
Band leader Mlangeni is the 2019 Standard Bank Young Artist For Jazz. He spoke to The Star about his favourite gadgets and a product he would invent to enhance his love for music.
Do you remember the first gadget you owned? What was it?
Funny enough, I owned a tuner for my trumpet. It had an added feature of also being a metronome. In later years, an iPod proved to be a source of invaluable musical inspiration.
Name three gadgets that you actively use?
I use a Yoco card swipe machine, which I have at all of my gigs for people who would like to purchase my album or tickets at the door.
I also have Bose portable Bluetooth speaker to play the latest sound of The Tune Recreation Committee’s latest album.
Paired with that I actively use my fourth generation iPad for admin work.
How do you use technology to enhance your musicality?
Technology is a resource and ultimately it is your environment and accessibility to a community of like-minded people. In music nothing is ever created in isolation.
The ability for people to experience sound vibrations is a primordial technology that resonates with all humans.
Do you have your eye out for any specific electronic product at the moment?
I would like to get my hand on a vocoder. I would like to add another element to my musical performance. Watch this space. I might just surprise you with one in the near future.
Which network do you use and why?
I cut across all networks. We get ripped off differently, some rip offs are more appealing than others.
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If you could invent a tech product, what would it be and what would it do?
I would invent a product that would write out your thoughts when you are sleeping. A dream catcher of sorts. Imagine how many beautiful and crazy stories would come to life!
How much time do you spend online each week?
I spend quite a fair amount of time online each week, especially now as we draw closer to promoting our album on digital platforms.
We have various pages on different platforms but the best link is always our website, www.tunerecreation.com, where they can catch our latest tour dates and releases.
@mane_mpi