Among South Africa’s foremost jazz figures was Zim Ngqawana, who not only directed his own ensemble Ingoma but also shared stages with such pivotal artists as Max Roach, Keith Tippett, Abdullah Ibrahim, and Hugh Masekela while performing alongside the distinguished modern dance troupes Free Flight Dance Company and Moving into Dance Company. A South African daily, The Star, once described him as “the most visible, hardest working, younger man in jazz.”
Born the youngest of five children, Ngqawana first approached the flute at age 21 yet advanced with striking speed. Although he exited secondary schooling before meeting university entrance criteria, his evident gifts gained him entry to Rhodes University; he later completed a diploma in jazz studies at the University of Natal. While appearing with that university’s ensemble, the Jazzanians, at the International Association of Jazz Educators convention, he drew the notice of Max Roach and Wynton Marsalis, whose advocacy secured him a scholarship to the University of Massachusetts for study with Archie Shepp and Yusef Lateef.
Upon his return to South Africa, Ngqawana performed in groups led by Abdullah Ibrahim and Hugh Masekela. In 1995 he brought Ingoma, featuring pianist Andile Yenana, on a North American tour. His first two solo recordings, San Song and Zimology, were made in Oslo, Norway, with Yenana, bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love; Norwegian saxophonist Bjørn Ole Solberg appeared on San Song. His third album, 1999’s Ingoma, was tracked in South Africa with his own band. Subsequent releases included Zimphonic Suites (2001) and Vadzimu (2004). Ngqawana suffered a stroke during rehearsal and died in Johannesburg during May 2011 at the age of 51.
