Mac McKenzie, The Genuines front man & Goema Captain passes away
The music industry mourns a legend and pioneer.
Lester Kiewit speaks to Mac McKenzie's long-time friend and collaborator, Iain Harris and jazz photographer, Rashid Lombard who pay tribute to the musician.
Legendary South African musician, Mac McKenzie has died.
McKenzie was known as Mzansi's 'music jack of all trades' for making rock music, being a jazz front man, goema pioneer, symphony composer, multi-instrumentalist, and a man who made magic with an electric guitar.
He is known as a 'musical chameleon' because he never conformed to one music genre, diversifying South Africa's music scene and capturing 'the sound of Cape Town' by marrying traditional Cape goema and classical symphonic.
During the 1970s, he produced music that became legendary in South Africa and in the 80s he became the front man for 'The Genuines', venturing into the world of jazz.
In 2002, McKenzie created a band called the 'Goema Captains of Cape Town' as a way to record the Cape's history.
Harris has known McKenzie for over 20 years and he remembers his friend and collaborator as a deep and complex person with incredible talent and a love for the City.
"It's a sad day. We've lost a massive character and someone influential in music and in the City of Cape Town. Mac was an incredible distillation of all of human experience in all of it's good and bad experiences. To be a part of Mac's universe was this rush of experiencing all of consciousness all at the same time".
- Iain Harris, Friend of the late Mac McKenzie
Harris also pays tribute to McKenzie's impact on the Cape's music industry.
"Mac's music had meaning, importance and relevance in the canon of human existance with music still being played a hundred years from now. It's not just that, as he wanted the music not to be seen as something colloquial but he wanted the stories of this place to be recognised as a part of a greater whole".
- Iain Harris, Friend of the late Mac McKenzie
While Lombard, a photographer who photographed McKenzie many times, has no doubt that his friend will be missed by many.
"I've mourned him. He is an intimate maestro... gone on to join the goema troop in the sky - go well, my friend - you'll be missed by many".
- Rashid Lombard, Photographer and friend of the late Mac McKenzie
Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the full conversation.