While Ntemi Edmund Piliso’s first musical love was African jazz, this extraordinary composer, arranger, band leader and saxophonist had a profound influence on the broader evolution and shape of African popular music generally.
A prolific composer, Piliso was very much immersed in the emerging music trends of the 1950s and 1960s, taking various trends and ‘Africanising’ them in his own manner – from swing, boogie woogie, rock ‘n roll, the blues, ska, jive and the specific mbaqanga sound that burst onto the scene in the mid 1960s.
This mix is prompted as a supplement to Chris Ballantine’s extensive interview with Ntemi re-published in this edition of Herri. As Ballantine suggests, it may well be that while Piliso did not much like the direction the evolution of South African popular music took, he was still central in the development of its style.
Benny G. Mwrebi and The Harlem Swingsters with Taai Shomeng – U-Mgibe (2:39) – Jazz and Hot Dance in South Africa 1946-1959
Ntemie’s Alexandra All Star Band – Sip and Fly (2:45) – Tropik DC – DC 501 – 78rpm
Alexandra All Star Band – Shebeen (2:20) – Tropik DC – DC 532 – 78rpm
Alexandra All Star Band – Fah Fee (2:33) – Tropik DC – DC 533 – 78rpm
Yankee Swingsters – Tshyani (2:21) – RCA – RCA 87 – 78rpm
Alexandra All Stars – Emzini (2:44) – RCA 100 – 78rpm
Wynburg All Stars – Pofolo (2:23) – RCA – RCA 243 – 78rpm
Alexandra All Star Band – Blues I Like to Hear (3:14) – DC 745
African Symphonics – Zulu Rock (2:3) – AFC 491 – Troubadour 78rpm
African Symphonics – Zulu Roll (2:39) – Rock Jive – Volume 2
Sofasonke Swingsters – Zwakala La (2:35) – His Master’s Voice JP.849 78rpm
Sofasonke Swingsters – Umlahla (2:32) – His Master’s Voice JP.857 78rpm
Sofasonke Swingsters – Umjikelo (2:29) His Master’s Voice JP.849 78rpm
Sofasonke Swingsters – Umahlokohla (2:16) HMV – JP 937 78rpm
Country Jazz Band – Isidididi (2:49) Columbia YE273 78rpm
1Country Jazz Band – KwaZulu (2:56) Columbia YE.237 78rpm
Country Jazz Band – KB (3:08) Columbia YE273 78rpm
Ten Troubadours – Umbuzi (2:28) Troubadour – AFC 692 78rpm
Edmund Piliso and his Orchestra – Wah Wah (2:31) Troubadour AFC.537 78rpm
Two Stage Rhythm Kings – Two Stage Special (2:40) Troubadour AFC540 78rpm
The Haarlem Fifteen – Shake Rock (2:29) Troubadour AFC.666 78rpm
Ntemie’s Alexandra All Star Band – Jive Bomber (2:30) Tropik DC.5196 78rpm
Alexander All Band – Isikebe Siwile (2:18) South African 78s and 45s
Ntemie’s Sextet Ntemie’s Sextet – Mosupatsela (2:25) Columbia YE6318 78rpm
Ntemi’s Alexandra All-Stars – Ukuduma Ka Elvis (2:33) HIT.115 78rpm
1953 — Harlem Swingsters (Troubadour)
1953-1956 — Trek / Tropik
1956-1962 — Troubadour / Hit
1957-1963 — RCA
1956-1968 — HMV / Columbia
1964-1968 — Motella / Gallo
For more information about some of these tracks and other early South African recordings visit flatinternational.org .
