Jazz it out

Guitarist, composer, poet, producer, teacher and podcaster James Kibby was about 15 years when he saw the signs that he could be a professional musician one day.  The outspoken creative was born in England, came to South Africa in 1980 and has been a Capetonian ever since.  His maternal grandfather could pick out a tune on just about any instrument as a hobby.  “He had a piano and an organ, but I saw him play banjo and harmonica as well”, he told Jazz It Out.

At high school, James was mostly into the rock sound of Queen, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix.  He also enjoyed the funk/soul of Stevie Wonder and Earth, Wind & Fire, and the acoustic made by John Martyn, Joni Mitchell, Crosby, Stills Nash & Young.  A combination of all these genres probably had an indirect influence on his choice of becoming a musician.

He turned professional after joining Sabenza formed by legendary saxophonist Basil ‘Manenberg’ Coetzee.  There was a club in Mitchells Plain called Club Fantasy that had jam sessions every Saturday afternoon.  That is where James first jammed with Basil.  “I knew about him from Dollar Brand records and saw him play a couple of times at UCT and UDF events”, he said.  Sabenza recorded 3 albums which James was part of.

James Kibby

The group performed in many South African clubs such as Kippies, Jamesons, Rainbow Restaurant, and at Grahamstown Festival.  They also performed internationally in London and all over England, Scotland, Amsterdam, Rome and Geneva.  “I had never done all of that before the age of 23”, he recalls.  Sadly, after the untimely passing of Coetzee in 1998, James had to find other means to sustain his career as a musician.

His focus shifted to teaching both privately and at the Jazz Workshop School of Music in Cape Town while playing in many smaller jazz and blues outfits.  Teaching was fulfilling at times, especially when his students started to become professional musicians themselves.  “The Jazz Workshop was my stability also when I was raising my daughter all alone as a single father.  I will always look back on those days as a combination of challenge and reward”, he said.

Not wanting to set limits for himself, James formed the group Acid Blues with drummer Richard Pickett and bassist Maurice Paliaga, as well as an original music trio with drummer Carlo Fabe and bassist Peter Ndala.  He explained how Acid Blues came into being: “We had a blues trio that used to perform at Carnival Court in Long Street every Friday night.  We didn’t really have a name but at some point, after about a year that gig became very popular and we were packing the place out”.  

Debut album by Acid Blues

That growth in popularity made the realize they needed a catchy name and to take the gig more seriously.  “I had been experimenting with different effects and looping techniques, so the name Acid Blues was kind of descriptive of the music”, he said.  Theo Nel became their manager, and they ended up playing on festival line ups and all sorts of strange in-town and out-of-town venues.  That period saw the group recording a live album titled “Live at Carnival Court”.

The Acid Blues album was mostly for sale at gigs where the group performed and many copies were sold. Sadly, the band came to an end when drummer Richard Pickett passed away in 2018.  James and bassist Maurice Paliaga recorded a digital EP with 6 tracks titled “A2B” but haven’t managed to source distribution of it at yet.  His solo album “Nowhere2hide – The James Kibby Project” broke even which was beyond expectation since he never really put a band together to play those tunes in a live setting.  “It was just 10 simple songs I had written over the years and recorded with some great musicians”, he said.

He has played guitar and sung on numerous occasions for other musicians as well. His love of blues started with jazz and various forms of afrobeat, mostly King Sunny Adé, Phillip Tabane of Malombo fame and chimurenga guitar music from Zimbambwe.  “I also listened to American blues of BB King, Buddy Guy but I guess the real origin of my love of blues goes back to my childhood and Jimi Hendrix”, he said.  

EP by Acid Blues titled “A2B”

Besides Basil Coetzee and Paul Abrahams, he has worked with both Jack Momple and Vic Higgins from Pacific Express.  He had a trio with Peter Ndlala and Carlo Fabe.  The list of individual musicians he has worked with over the years include Hilton Schilder, Kevin Gibson, the late Nic Le Roux, David Ridgeway, Buddy Wells, Lionel Beukes, Denver Furness, Erika Lundi, Monique Hellenberg, Rob Stemmett, Wesley Rustin, John Hawks and Zolani Mahola (formerly with Freshlyground).

Once a week, James presents “The Kibby Factor Homeless Podcast” which started as a show at the now defunct All Jazz Radio in 2013.  With the passing of the station’s chief Eric Allan in 2022 and the dissolution of the station by the estate, he decided to continue making the show but as a stripped down version of an hour instead of the original two.  He posts it on all social media platforms and its list of subscribers is growing.  “It’s mostly a music show but I do talk a lot about things like the growth of amapiano and afrobeats as modern electronic incantations of African music as well as the future of Jazz and improvised music in the digital age”, he explained.

Naming it Homeless Podcast is resulting from the fact that it no longer has a home radio station wise.  It will probably change when it does eventually finds a home on a radio station.  He recalls with sadness how a handful of presenters and journalists tried to resurrect All Jazz Radio under a different name after the passing of Allan, but the expense proved too much and were unable to secure a sponsorship.  The station won the Mzantsi Jazz Award for Best Radio Station Playing Jazz in 2018.

In a subtle way, he often drives a message on socio political issues issues affecting daily lives of the ordinary citizens through his music.  He does this whenever he gets a chance through lyrics, which can be a bit poetic and lightweight to hammer a social message home.  “I think my views tend to be too extreme to really put across effectively”, he said.  Often listeners are put off by overtly socialist or human rights orients art which he thinks is tragic.  “I certainly do include anti establishment themes in the lyrics of some songs though”, he added.

Through his extensive travelling throughout the globe, he is always impressed to interact with audiences that know about South African musicians including Abdullah Ibrahim, Kyle Shepherd, Derek Gripper, the late Phillip Tabane, Mervyn Africa and Jimmy Dludlu.  He regards Steve Newman as his first guitar hero.  “I saw him play at the Glendower Hotel in Rosebank when I just started playing myself and was completely blown away”, he recalls.

His current South African favourites are Shane Cooper, Guy Buttery, Auriol Hays, Bongani Nhlapo, and amapiano artists.  Internationally, he tends to listen to Theon Cross, Shabaka Hutchings, Nubya Garcia.  “My all time favourite musician is Miles Davis and Ted Greene is my all time favourite guitarist”, he confessed.  His Facebook page is James Kibby.  Follow him on Instagram and Tik Tok @jbently_the_cat and James Kibby on SoundCloud.  Subscribe to his YouTube channel @jameskibby61.  Visit Mixcloud https://www.mixcloud.com/AcidRobot/  to subscribe to his podcast.