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CD
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EW 2427CD
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1992 release. For 40 years, ending with his death at age 58 in 1998, West Nkosi was everywhere in South African music. His first instrument was a pennywhistle, which in South Africa is popularly associated with the style called kwela, and he played on many kwela records in the late '50s and early '60s, including some by Spokes Mashiyane & His All-Star Flutes. He also played alto sax with the marabi jazz combo that became the house band at Gallo Records' main studio in Johannesburg. But West Nkosi was never just a sideman; as a composer and arranger, he, more than anyone else, developed the style known as township jive or mbaqanga in the '60s. Over the next three decades he and his great Makgona Tsohle Band provided the jumping beat and vital sound to hit records by the likes of Abafana Baseqhudeni and Mahlathini & the Mahotella Queens. As if that weren't enough, West Nkosi also produced the first 22 records by the famous isicathamiya a cappella choir Ladysmith Black Mambazo. For Rhythm of Healing, which turned out to be the last album he made as a player and bandleader, West Nkosi put a together a sextet to record ten of his finest kwela, marabi jazz, and township jive compositions.
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