Sankomota is widely regarded as one of the greatest musical bands to come out of the tiny ‘mountain kingdom’ of Lesotho, Sankomota (originally Uhuru) was formed around 1976. It consisted of several members in its earliest years, namely – Frank Leepa (guitarist, vocalist, arranger, composer), Moss Nkofo (drummer), Black Jesus (percussion), Moruti Selate, Tsepo Tsola (lead vocalist, composer), Pitso Sera (guitar), among others.

However, when talking about Sankomota, one name stands out immediately, Tsepo Tsola.

A few years ago, the artist, who is commonly known as “the village pope,” recovered from 17 long years of addiction to both drugs and alcohol.

Not much can be found online about Tsepo Tsola but you can read more on Music.org.za

Tsepo Tsola “The Village Pope” (Pic: Winter Jazz Festival)

The Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions # 27: Tsepo Tsola & Sankomota

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Over the next few Sundays, Howzit-HongKong.com will feature a YouTube clip of one (or more) of the musicians and their sounds who have influenced and shaped South African and specifically Cape Town music as part of what we like to call The Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions. I am fortunate to be living right next to one of the most stunning working harbours in the world… Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour. I often find myself staring across the Harbour at night, with the lights dimmed and one of my favourite musicians from home over the speakers. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do…

Goodnight South Africa,

Mike Jansen

Just under a month ago, we alerted you that Table Mountain needed you vote.

The iconic Cape Town landmark was recently named on the shortlist of the 28 finalists in the New 7 Wonders of Nature competition.

Coordinators of the Vote for Table Mountain have been calling for South Africans to cast their vote to have the mountain declared one of the new 7 wonders of nature, and on our previous post, we showed you how you too can cast your vote.

We were pleasantly surprised to see that a video that we made after listening to Campaign Manager Fiona Furey speaking on The Taxi, was posted on the homepage of the Vote For Table Mountain campaign!

If you visit the site (here), our video is the one just above that of Arch Bishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, a patron of the campaign.

Regular readers will know that the Cape Town songstress Tina Schouw was our 10th featured artist on The Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions here on Howzit-HongKong.

Listening to TheTaxi.co.za yesterday, the beauty that is Tina Schouw again shone through for all to hear and see.

Because that is what you see when you listen to Tina.

Something about her just calms the the soul, when she sings and when she talks.

And that is what I love about Tina Schouw.

I want to share that with you today.

Tina Schouw singing Both Sides Now:

Tina Schouw Both Sides Now by BlitzBokke

And here she is chatting with Soli Philander afterwards:

Tina Schouw’s Taxi Chat by BlitzBokke

For perspective on Tina’s talk on The Taxi, Johnny Issel was a stalwart of the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa.  A son of the Cape Town soil, he was loved by his people for his work, his steadfast values and what he did for his community.  Bush Radio has an informative post on the Cape hero. Johnny Issel passed away on 23 January 2011.

Rest in Peace, Bra Johnny.

Tina Schouw on The Taxi yesterday (Pic: thetaxi.co.za)

And here is that CD cover she autographed for my family years back in Cape Town:

Thank you for the pictures TheTaxi.co.za and Hedwig Claire Scheepers

Following on my post on Cape Town’s crooners of yesteryear, today’s post features a crooner who is still very active on the local and international scene.

Leslie Kleinsmith has been performing on the South African Cabaret and Jazz for a whopping 38 years.

The consummate entertainer is these days known by his stage name of Leslie K Smith.

Due to the fact that it is very difficult to make a career as a musician in South Africa, Leslie has had to find a way to continue his musical career.

Thankfully he has made a name for himself on the international cruise-liner entertainment industry, and as a result, the local music scene still enjoys the talents of one of the Cape most-talented performers.

Mister Entertainer. Leslie performing on the Costa Pacifica (Pic: Flory Turcu on FaceBook)

I have scoured the internet and could only find the following short bio of Leslie Kleinsmith:

Sophisticated, eloquent, and absolutely entertaining are the only words that can describe this crooner. After 38 years in the South African Cabaret and Jazz music industry Leslie K. Smith has deservedly earned the title of Grand Performer.

When he’s not busy in the studio, Lesley is most at home with live intimate performances exuding a stage presence, voice and charisma of performers such as Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis, jnr, all of whom where influences in his formative years. His voice, now a sculpted tone of contra-alto leaning toward golden tenor evokes a warmth and pliability that turn great songs into personal innovation of love.

His most memorable performances include a lead role in District 6,

And wowing international stages of the Edinburgh Arts Festival in Scotland and the 1992 Miss World Contest where 600 million television viewers got to see him perform.

His ability to bring true emotion to music goes well with audiences who enjoy romantic inspiration, but it’s almost as though you can get just about any kind of soulful vibe from this “living jukebox”.

(From: ParKan Entertainment)

Leslie Kleinsmith, vocals, with Alistair Andrews and Alvin Dyers. Cape Town, 4 June 2010. (Pic: John Mason)

The Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions #26:

Have you met Miss Jones (Leslie K Smith)

(Picture credits in this story: Flory Turcu on FaceBook, John Edwin Mason and Wilfred Paulse)

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Over the next few Sundays, Howzit-HongKong.com will feature a YouTube clip of one (or more) of the musicians and their sounds who have influenced and shaped South African and specifically Cape Town music as part of what we like to call The Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions. I am fortunate to be living right next to one of the most stunning working harbours in the world… Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour. I often find myself staring across the Harbour at night, with the lights dimmed and one of my favourite musicians from home over the speakers. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do…

Goodnight South Africa,

Mike Jansen

This is such a special post.

Dave Grusin is one of the legends when you speak about Cape Town Jazz and the international stars who influenced its sound.

A legendary composer for some very famous movie soundtracks, Grusin is also known to have collaborated with some really HUGE names in Jazz.

But my most-famous collaboration happened in Japan years back when he introduced his good friend (and ours) Sadao Watanabe who played on one of the all-time Cape Town (international) anthems…

Friends & Strangers.

Grusin was performing live in Japan (hence the title of this recording) An album that I am still trying to get my grubby paws on. (I know that Clarence Ford from Heart 104.9 has one!)

A son of the Cape Town soil, Clarence Ford

On a personal level, I met Sadao Watanabe after a concert in Taipei, Taiwan with my kids Ethan (3 at the time) and Micaela (7 years old). It was after midnight on a school-night and he asked why they were not in bed.

I told him that meeting him was a lifelong dream and that, between him and the Cape Town legend Robbie Jansen, they were the reason my daughter was studying the sax.

He was most impressed and expressed his desire to one day visit Cape Town.

Hopefully Rashied Lombard can get him to play at the Cape Town International Jazz Festival some day.

Below, my signed CD by the Sensei himself:

I found the following clip of the track on YouTube, while not the entire song, I love it anyway…

Until I get my hands on that elusive album!

The Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions #25: Friends & Strangers

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Over the next few Sundays, Howzit-HongKong.com will feature a YouTube clip of one (or more) of the musicians and their sounds who have influenced and shaped South African and specifically Cape Town music as part of what we like to call The Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions. I am fortunate to be living right next to one of the most stunning working harbours in the world… Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour. I often find myself staring across the Harbour at night, with the lights dimmed and one of my favourite musicians from home over the speakers. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do…

Goodnight South Africa,

Mike Jansen

“Former South African President Nelson Mandela is alive and kicking.”

These were the words of Acting-President Kgalema Motlanthe late last night in a statement from the South African Government on the condition on the ailing Mandela.

This afternoon, at a press conference arranged to calm the mood in the country and to allay fears that Madiba (The clan name of Mandela) has passed away, Motlanthe confirmed that, while Mandela has indeed been admitted to the MillPark Hospital for treatment, he was fine and ready to be discharged for home-care.

I have been monitoring the news-wires for any updates the whole afternoon (Friday 28 January 2011) and finally managed to capture the pressie from South Africa via my iPhone (courtesy of Sky News here in Hong Kong):

(Turn up your volume if required)

“I’m still here” Stay strong Tata.

And then…. after the press conference, we danced, Madiba-style! Turn up the volume…

Excuse me if I dwell on the issue of Table Mountain and Cape Town, but I just found this fantastic time-lapse video of Cape Town featuring some amazing footage of the clouds (table-cloth) moving over Table Mountain. (Cheers Seth)

From Wikipedia:

Time-lapse photography is a cinematography technique whereby each film frame is captured at a rate much slower than it will be played back. When replayed at normal speed, time appears to be moving faster and thus lapsing. Time-lapse photography can be considered to be the opposite of high speed photography.

If you have a look at the website of the producers Silver Bullet Productions, you will find some more of their creative efforts.

I watched the following time-lapse video in full-screen (HD) on my 27-inch iMac and I can promise you… you’ll be blown away!

Enjoy the awesomeness of the Mother City:

Seriously Beautiful Cape Town – Timelapses from Silver Bullet Productions on Vimeo.

Some of my greatest memories from Cape Town involve Table Mountain.

As a boy scout back in the days, our troop regularly took part in orienteering competitions at various locations around the mountain.

Later, as a member of my university’s Mountain Club, I had the privilege (several times over) of rock-climbing a couple of routes to the top.  A favourite “act of madness” by the fitness-fanatics in the Club was to run up AND down the Mountain via Platteklip Gorge as fast as possible.

In case you were thinking: Yes, we did that stone cold sober!

The best experience, however, was the many nights I spent at the SA Mountain Club’s hut… on the ‘Table Top” as I always like to say.  Staying behind while tourists and other visitors are advised that the Upper Cable Station will be closing, as well as seeing the sun rise over the Hottentots Holland mountains while watching from the top of Table Mountain are priceless experiences that few people are privvy to.

Nowadays, as an expat for a decade, my family’s best experience when flying home once a year, is undoubtedly seeing the Mountain as our plane approaches the Mother City.

That is when we feel like we are finally home.

Priceless experiences indeed.

Recently, Table Mountain was named on the shortlist of the 28 finalists in the New 7 Wonders of Nature competition.

The Cape icon successfully beat legendary sites such as Mount Everest, K2 and Mount Olympus.

I have cast my vote and you can too:

Read more about the campaign to get Table Mountain nominated by clicking on VoteForTableMountain.com or joining the FaceBook Group here

In the meantime, have a look and listen to this clip I made yesterday while listening to Soli Philander & Fiona Furey talking about this campaign on The Taxi:

(We used the picture above in our video clip. Tasaline Pamela Martin informed us via The Taxi that the view in the sketch above was her family’s while growing up and that the picture is by her 16-year old brother, Philipus van Rensburg from Heideveld. Thanks for allowing us to use it, young man.)

Cape Town in the fifties and sixties delivered its fair share of crooners who modelled their music and even their dress sense on famous singers such as Frank Sinatra, Harry Belafonte, etc.

In a 1992 hit-musical called “Crooners,” well-known producers David Kramer and Taliep Petersen showcased some of the Mother City’s forgotten talent.

One such talent (I’m not sure if he was part of Kramer’s musical) was a singer called Dougie Schrikker. 

Largely unknown even in his own city, Schrikker performed live on the nightclub- and carnival scene around the Cape Flats.  As far as I can remember, he never recorded a album. A quick Google-search doesn’t even return a profile or any pictures of the performer. 

However, about 3 years ago I posted a video featuring an audio-clip of Dougie singing the Frank Sinatra tune ”When I fall in love.”  The clip came from a CD I bought soon after Schrikker’s death in 1998. The hastily put-together CD features a few tracks of Dougie Schikker recorded during a live performance. 

The Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions #24: Dougie Schrikker 

Here is the video of Dougie Schrikker set to images of some of Cape Town and South Africa’s musical talents as well as some images of my hometown of the Helderberg:

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Over the next few Sundays, Howzit-HongKong.com will feature a YouTube clip of one (or more) of the musicians and their sounds who have influenced and shaped South African and specifically Cape Town music as part of what we like to call The Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions. I am fortunate to be living right next to one of the most stunning working harbours in the world… Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour. I often find myself staring across the Harbour at night, with the lights dimmed and one of my favourite musicians from home over the speakers. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do…

Goodnight South Africa,

Mike Jansen

This is such an amazing clip, I just had to share it here on Howzit-HongKong.com

The Kruger National Park is one of the parks administered by SA National Parks. It is one of the most popular parks in South Africa, especially with foreign visitors looking for an authentic wildlife experience.

The following clip was shot by one such visitor a few years ago and has since reached cult status on YouTube with over 58,000,000 hits.  You read that right: 58 million!

It has subsequently been awarded YouTube’s Best Eyewitness Video and has featured on National Geographic, Animal Planet, ABC, and MSNBC.

It features an epic battle between a herd of Africa wild buffalo (Nyati) and a pride of lions and even a crocodile, with the outcome very, very unexpected.

An African wild buffalo or Nyati

Have a look and prepare to be amazed!