About a hundred of South Africa’s Jazz players, veterans and youngsters, will gather for a photoshoot and jam session in memorial tribute to pioneering modern jazzman, Kippie “Morolong” Moeketsi, on Saturday 20 September at the iconic Market Theatre Precinct in Newtown. There is a saying that a picture tells a thousand words, but on that day a picture will frame more than a thousand notes.

The saxophonist was born in George Gosh, Johannesburg 100 years ago, on 27 July 1925. He passed away on 27 April 1983, a few months before his 58th birthday. His career stretched from early kwela music, through historic bands like the Harlem Swingsters, participation in South Africa’s first LP by Black musicians, “Jazz Epistles Verse One”, the “King Kong” musical, worked with Abdullah Ibrahim and, in total, appeared in more than 50 recordings. Kippie is hailed by generations of South African players as helping to shape the country’s modern Jazz sound, as a mentor and teacher.

Legendary saxophonist Kippie Moeketsi. Picture by Jurgen Schadeberg

In honouring this legacy in the year of Kippie’s centenary, internationally acclaimed, award-winning photographer Siphiwe Mhlambi is convening a gathering of players at the Market Theatre Precinct, around Kippie’s statue, for a historic photoshoot and jam session. Saxophonist and composer Khaya Mahlangu will be the music director. The organising team for this event includes veteran broadcaster Nothemba Madumo, host of Jazz & Beyond at Radio 702 and Cape Talk, whose company 4EverJazz has been creating content and events that promote Jazz music, culture and preserving its legacy.

The Market Theatre Foundation, which is the custodian of the building that once housed the famous Kippies Jazz Club, has been generous to partner with the team to celebrate Kippie Moeketsi’s centenary and make the event possible. “In 1958, American photographer Art Kane assembled more than 50 Jazz musicians in Harlem for an iconic image, usually called ‘A Great Day in Harlem’, that captured the American Jazz community of that era: everybody from Dizzy Gillespie to Thelonius Monk. I hope our photoshoot for Kippie won’t only be fitting tribute to a towering musical presence but will create a similar iconic image of our Jazz landscape today – the seasoned veterans and the youngsters, men and women, who are shaping the unique sounds of today’s South African Jazz”, Mhlambi explained.

Kippie having a smoke. Picture. by Mike Mzileni

Artistic Director of the Foundation, Greg Homann added: “As the custodian of a site that once pulsed with Kippe Moeketsi’s spirit, The Market Theatre Foundation is honoured to partner on this centenary event that brings together generations of South African Jazz musicians in tribute. This special gathering is a reminder of Jazz as a communal language – one that acknowledges a legacy left behind and one that continues to inspire”.

To preserve the legacy of Kippie Moeketsi and the significance of the iconic photograph, the team intends to produce merchandise for sale, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Johnny Mekoa School of Music for the benefit of music students with instrument and tutors. The photoshoot will take a place from midday until mid-afternoon, followed by a jam session at the Market Theatre from 3pm until 5pm, focusing on Kippie’s compositions and repertoire. Dress code is 50’s Sophiatown to reflect on that bygone era of a place whose residents were from different races and cultures living in harmony.