South Africa’s finest saxophonists, McCoy Mrubata
has gained international recognition for his versatility on the
tenor, soprano and alto saxophones as well as the flute. The Nordic
Black Theatre invited him to perform in three musicals, two of which
were based on the life of Bob Marley. The third – Beyond the Blues: the
John Coltrane Story – ran for two months and saw McCoy
playing the lead role. 2003 saw the release of McCoy’s first collection
album Best of the Early Years, featuring a selection of his earlier
material and an impressive array of guest musicians including Ringo Madlingozi, Sipho Gumede, Paul Hanmer, Andile Yenana, Bheki Khoza, Johnny Fourie, Errol Dyers and Frank Paco.
Albums by this group include Indibano, Live at the Blues Room and Dance
With Me, which also featured Louis Mhlanga and Wessel van Rensburg.
McCoy’s Face the Music album won the 2003 SAMA award for the best South
African traditional album. He won the same award in 2005 for his most
recent album Icamagu Livumile. When he’s not recording, producing and
writing music for TV documentaries or programmes, he heads his own band
– McCoy and Friends – formed in 1993 and active in the southern African
jazz scene. The band features top players like Paul Hanmer,
Prince Lengoasa, Jabu Magubane, André Abrahamse, Sam Mataure and Greg
Hadjiyorki Georgiades. McCoy’s discography: 1989: Firebird 1997: Tears
of Joy 1999: Phosa Ngasemva 2000: Hoelykit 2002: Face the Music 2003:
Best of the Early Years 2004: Icamagu Livumile
His latest adventure with guitarist Greg Georgiades called VIVID AFRIKA
released on MELT 2000 and was toured through South Africa in 2006
followed by an excellent performance at the Cape Town International
Jazz Festival on the 30th of March 2007.
