Tributes pour in for legendary jazz drummer Bra Louis Moholo-Moholo

CapeTalk's Lester Kiewit speaks to Koko Nkalashe, Director and Co-founder of Jazz in the Native Yards and journalist and DJ, Atiyyah Khan, about the life and works of music legend, Tebogo Louis Moholo-Moholo.

Born in Langa, Tebogo Louis Moholo-Moholo died on Friday, at the age of 85. 

He was the last surviving member of The Blue Notes, a group that took their music into exile in the UK during apartheid. 

Affectionately known as Bra Louis, a statement from his family reads: "From the townships of Cape Town to the stages of London and beyond, his rhythms spoke of resistance, liberation, and the boundless power of creativity."

He received the National Order of Ikhamanga from then president Thabo Mbeki in 2004.

Khan says he had been ill for a few years and was bedridden but still enjoyed interacting with other musos at his home.

"I would facilitate those visits when people were visiting from other countries. I'd make sure that we go through... and also local musicians. Just also letting people know that there's an elder that's open and we still have him and we might as well get to know him and learn about him while he's still with us."

- Atiyyah Khan, Journalist and DJ

She says he made an immense contribution to music.

"Bra Louis was a self-taught, brilliant musician whose reach of what he played and where he played is way beyond what most of us know. We'll still find this out in the future."

- Atiyyah Khan, Journalist and DJ

Nkalashe fondly remembers Moholo-Moholo not just as a free jazz musician but also as someone who believed that listening to jazz should be free. He says people would wave at the drummer at the venue and greet him.

"And so we had to stop people... and say you know, at least contribute something... and that was the character of Bra Louis."

- Koko Nkalashe, Director and Co-founder of Jazz in the Native Yards

Funeral arrangements are expected to be announced soon.

Scroll up to listen to the full interview.