Biography
By blending traditional African township sounds, American bebop, and an intensely personal spirituality that reached in multiple directions, Bheki Mseleku established himself as the foremost jazz pianist to emerge from South Africa during his era. He entered the world as Bhekumuzi Hyacinth Mseleku on March 3, 1955, in Durban, South Africa, where his father earned a living as a music teacher. The elder Mseleku, a profoundly devout individual, worried that any of his seven offspring might pursue professional musicianship, so he secured the household piano under lock and key before ultimately reducing the instrument to firewood. Mseleku’s mother nevertheless passed him the key during his father’s absences, allowing the youngster to instruct himself at the keyboard; after a go-cart mishap removed the uppermost joints of two fingers, he adjusted his developing approach by cultivating quicker, more economical hand movements to offset the smaller reach.
While still in his early teens, Mseleku began performing on electric organ with the semi-professional Expressions in his hometown, then shifted to Johannesburg in 1975 to join the hard bop ensemble the Drive. He subsequently helped establish the forward-looking jazz collective Spirits Rejoice with bassist Sipho Gumede and later performed in multi-instrumentalist Philip Tabane’s well-known group Malombo. International notice first arrived when Malombo appeared at the 1977 Newport Jazz Festival; there he encountered his childhood hero McCoy Tyner and harpist Alice Coltrane, who eventually presented him with the mouthpiece her late husband John had used on the sessions that produced the landmark album A Love Supreme.
Returning to Johannesburg, Mseleku found the atmosphere under apartheid intolerable, so after a short period in Botswana supporting trumpeter Hugh Masekela he traveled with percussionist and composer Eugene Skeef to Stockholm. Occasional work with expatriate trumpeter Don Cherry punctuated an otherwise precarious existence in Sweden, where diabetes and additional health problems compounded daily hardship. He relocated to London in 1985, and two years afterward pianist Horace Silver arranged a two-week engagement at Ronnie Scott’s, finally bringing the recognition that had long eluded him. Even the club’s owner, ordinarily reluctant to speak with journalists, contacted reviewers to praise the performances. Frequently appearing alone, a tenor saxophone resting in his lap as a secondary instrument, Mseleku delivered meditative, technically immaculate sets that quickly attained legendary status and drew fellow players such as Courtney Pine and Steve Williamson, both of whom later contributed to his 1991 debut album Celebration.
The album’s extended creation stemmed from Mseleku’s uneasy reaction to sudden visibility: diagnosed later as bipolar, he left London after the residency to reside for two years inside a Buddhist temple without telephone or piano. Critical praise for Celebration nevertheless restored attention, leading to the 1992 release Meditations, a live solo recording captured at the Bath International Music Festival; the same year he also appeared on the ITV program The South Bank Show.
As his reputation expanded, Mseleku performed across Europe, the United States, the Far East, and India while contributing to sessions led by Pine, South African vocalist Sibongile Khumalo, and additional artists. His third album, Timelessness, issued by Verve in 1994, included appearances by saxophonists Pharoah Sanders and Joe Henderson, drummer Elvin Jones, and vocalist Abbey Lincoln. He subsequently toured with Henderson’s band and, after reaching Los Angeles, recorded the 1995 album Star Seeding with bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Billy Higgins, both formerly associated with Ornette Coleman. For his final Verve project, 1997’s Beauty of Sunrise, Mseleku assembled another distinguished ensemble that featured Jones and saxophonist Ravi Coltrane. By then he had returned to Johannesburg, yet the homecoming proved psychologically costly; his generosity quickly exhausted earnings from the major label, and the theft of the treasured Coltrane mouthpiece left a lasting wound. In 2003 he completed Home at Last, his last recording, which paired him with local musicians; although reviewers regarded it as the clearest expression of his distinctive style, commercial response remained limited, prompting him to turn to teaching for income. He went back to London in 2006 seeking steadier employment, though advancing diabetes increasingly restricted his playing. An extended engagement had already been booked at Johannesburg’s Bassline club when Mseleku died on September 9, 2008.
While still in his early teens, Mseleku began performing on electric organ with the semi-professional Expressions in his hometown, then shifted to Johannesburg in 1975 to join the hard bop ensemble the Drive. He subsequently helped establish the forward-looking jazz collective Spirits Rejoice with bassist Sipho Gumede and later performed in multi-instrumentalist Philip Tabane’s well-known group Malombo. International notice first arrived when Malombo appeared at the 1977 Newport Jazz Festival; there he encountered his childhood hero McCoy Tyner and harpist Alice Coltrane, who eventually presented him with the mouthpiece her late husband John had used on the sessions that produced the landmark album A Love Supreme.
Returning to Johannesburg, Mseleku found the atmosphere under apartheid intolerable, so after a short period in Botswana supporting trumpeter Hugh Masekela he traveled with percussionist and composer Eugene Skeef to Stockholm. Occasional work with expatriate trumpeter Don Cherry punctuated an otherwise precarious existence in Sweden, where diabetes and additional health problems compounded daily hardship. He relocated to London in 1985, and two years afterward pianist Horace Silver arranged a two-week engagement at Ronnie Scott’s, finally bringing the recognition that had long eluded him. Even the club’s owner, ordinarily reluctant to speak with journalists, contacted reviewers to praise the performances. Frequently appearing alone, a tenor saxophone resting in his lap as a secondary instrument, Mseleku delivered meditative, technically immaculate sets that quickly attained legendary status and drew fellow players such as Courtney Pine and Steve Williamson, both of whom later contributed to his 1991 debut album Celebration.
The album’s extended creation stemmed from Mseleku’s uneasy reaction to sudden visibility: diagnosed later as bipolar, he left London after the residency to reside for two years inside a Buddhist temple without telephone or piano. Critical praise for Celebration nevertheless restored attention, leading to the 1992 release Meditations, a live solo recording captured at the Bath International Music Festival; the same year he also appeared on the ITV program The South Bank Show.
As his reputation expanded, Mseleku performed across Europe, the United States, the Far East, and India while contributing to sessions led by Pine, South African vocalist Sibongile Khumalo, and additional artists. His third album, Timelessness, issued by Verve in 1994, included appearances by saxophonists Pharoah Sanders and Joe Henderson, drummer Elvin Jones, and vocalist Abbey Lincoln. He subsequently toured with Henderson’s band and, after reaching Los Angeles, recorded the 1995 album Star Seeding with bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Billy Higgins, both formerly associated with Ornette Coleman. For his final Verve project, 1997’s Beauty of Sunrise, Mseleku assembled another distinguished ensemble that featured Jones and saxophonist Ravi Coltrane. By then he had returned to Johannesburg, yet the homecoming proved psychologically costly; his generosity quickly exhausted earnings from the major label, and the theft of the treasured Coltrane mouthpiece left a lasting wound. In 2003 he completed Home at Last, his last recording, which paired him with local musicians; although reviewers regarded it as the clearest expression of his distinctive style, commercial response remained limited, prompting him to turn to teaching for income. He went back to London in 2006 seeking steadier employment, though advancing diabetes increasingly restricted his playing. An extended engagement had already been booked at Johannesburg’s Bassline club when Mseleku died on September 9, 2008.
Albums
