Jonas Gwangwa

Born Jonas Mosa Gwangwa, the trombonist helped shape the trajectory of South African jazz through decades of performance and composition. Alongside pianist Abdullah Ibrahim, then performing as Dollar Brand, he belonged to the Jazz Epistles, the first black South African ensemble to issue a full-length recording. Over time he established himself as an award-winning composer, creating scores for the films Cry Freedom, Generations, and Othello while also supplying the theme for South Africa’s 1997 Olympic bid.

In the early 1950s South African alto saxophonist Kippie Moeketsi guided Gwangwa and numerous other gifted players. After the Jazz Epistles dissolved in 1959, he maintained a strong profile within local jazz circles; by the mid-1960s that recognition had reached American listeners. He appeared in the 1965 Sound of Africa concert at Carnegie Hall alongside Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela, and Letta Mbulu. Two years later he joined the national tour titled The Main Event, which featured Masekela and Herb Alpert. Despite his standing, apartheid policies continued to constrain his opportunities; when new legislation in the early 1970s criminalized gatherings of Black South Africans, he departed the country.

Following a European run of the musical King Kong, Gwangwa proceeded to New York and enrolled at the Manhattan School of Music. Harry Belafonte’s support enabled him to reach wider U.S. audiences. He spent ten years as musical director of the ANC cultural ensemble Amandla, simultaneously expanding his work as composer and arranger. Between 1987 and 1988 he partnered with George Fenton on the score for Richard Attenborough’s Cry Freedom; the film earned Oscar, Grammy, and Golden Globe nominations as well as Ivor Novello and Black Emmy awards. Gwangwa resettled in South Africa in 1991 and resumed recording, issuing A Temporary Inconvenience in 2000 and Flowers of the Nation in 2006. He died on January 23, 2021, at the age of 83.