Herbie Tsoaeli Quintet

Tsoaeli took formal music lessons from jazz pianist Merton Barrow at the Music Action for People’s

Power (MAPP), an academy that was formed by activists who organised music events for political rallies

and community functions in the eighties. It’s based at Athlone’s Joseph Stone Theatre, Cape Town. A

number of influential Cape Jazz artists have served as an inspiration. These include Bucs Gongco, Gambu

Pasiya, Tete Mbambisa, Mankunku Ngozi, Basil Moses, Ephraim “Cups ’n Saucers” Nkanuka. He was part

of the Nyanga Arts Centre, a community arts establishment that was founded in 1979 and where he did

his apprenticeship as a musician.However, as the quintessential South African jazz man, Herbie Tsoaeli is a largely self-taught bass virtuoso from Nyanga East, in Cape Town – one of the more politically charged black locations in the Western Cape.

Coming from this community at the forefront of producing South Africa’s rich jazz legacy, Tsoaeli has

played a central role in both establishing the country’s jazz tradition and also keeping it alive. He has

worked with Winston Mankunku-Ngozi, Tete Mbambisa, Miriam Makeba, Abdullah Ibrahim to name a

few.