The unveiling of the Kippie Moeketsi memorial by the Gauteng Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation has been welcomed and lauded by many in different quarters. On 25 September MEC Nelisiwe Mbatha-Mthimkhulu unveiled the life sized bronze sculpture at the site of the Kippies Jazz Club in Newtown. The sculpture designed and sculpted by artists Guy du Toit and Egon Tania who were awarded the commission out of the five artists who were invited to submit proposals, is an emotional work that celebrates the life and brilliant work of Kippie.
Saxophonist Kippie Moeketsi, after whom the club was named, was born in 1925. He began his musical career playing the clarinet but soon switched to the saxophone. He toured with some of the best jazz bands in the country: the Shantytown Sextet, the Harlem Swingsters, the Jazz Epistles and the Jazz Dazzlers. He also played with some of South Africa’s great musicians: Jonas Gwangwa, Abdullah Ibrahim, Miriam Makeba and Hugh Masekela. Sadly, Moeketsi died in 1983 at the age of 58, destitute but his legacy and music lives on.
The efforts to protect and promote Kippie Moeketsi’s heritage extend to beyond the memorial statue and includes the research, collection and transcription of his music that will result in the publication of a Kippie Moeketsi's Real Book.
A few years ago the Kippies Jazz Club was saved from demolition following reports declaring it unsafe for occupation. The Provincial Heritage and Resource Act of Gauteng (PHRA-G) intervened and the building has since been provisionally declared a heritage site.
According to MEC Nelisiwe Mbatha-Mthimkhulu, the “site will form part of the Newtown District Site Specific Heritage Trail to develop a historical narrative of the district and translate it into a spatially based trial involving 15 to 20 key sites all to be located within the district.”
With lack of prominent jazz venues around, it was not surprising to find many patrons in attendance asking if the club was being reopened. The unveiling was part of the heritage month activities.
Issued by: Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation, Gauteng Provincial Government
5 October 2009
Source: Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation, Gauteng Provincial Government (http://www.srac.gpg.gov.za/)
