Louis Mhlanga (born 10 November 1956) is a

Zimbabwean Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Moza ...

artist based in South Africa, an award-winning guitarist and producer. Mhlanga taught himself to play the guitar at a young age and is considered one of the best

Southern African Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number of ...

guitarists. Mhlanga's career began in the 1970s. Fronting many bands in

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

, he mixed

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

and

influences into his music. Mhlanga became renowned for his guitar skills, and worked with Zimbabwean acts such as

Shaka Shaka kaSenzangakhona ( – 22 September 1828), also known as Shaka Zulu () and Sigidi kaSenzangakhona, was the king of the Zulu Kingdom from 1816 to 1828. One of the most influential monarchs of the Zulu, he ordered wide-reaching reforms that ...

Talking Drum The talking drum is an hourglass-shaped drum from West Africa, whose pitch can be regulated to mimic the tone and prosody of human speech. It has two drumheads connected by leather tension cords, which allow the player to change the pitc ...

Ilanga ''Ilanga'' is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Solariellidae. Species Species within the genus ''Ilanga'' include: * '' Ilanga agulhaensis'' (Thiele, 1925) * '' Ilanga aquamarina'' (Melvill, 1909) * '' Ilanga bica ...

, Mudzimu, and

Oliver Mtukudzi Oliver "Tuku" Mtukudzi (22 September 1952 – 23 January 2019) was a Zimbabwean musician, businessman, philanthropist, human rights activist and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Southern Africa Region. Career Mtukudzi grew up in Highfield, a ...

. Louis eventually headed to South Africa to pursue different musical opportunities, leading to collaborations with renowned South African artists such as

Miriam Makeba Zenzile Miriam Makeba (4 March 1932 – 9 November 2008), nicknamed Mama Africa, was a South African singer, songwriter, actress, and civil rights activist. Associated with musical genres including African popular music, Afropop, jazz, a ...

Hugh Masekela Hugh Ramapolo Masekela (4 April 1939 – 23 January 2018) was a South African trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, singer and composer who was described as "the father of South African jazz". Masekela was known for his jazz compositions and for ...

Ray Phiri Raymond Chikapa Enock Phiri (23 March 1947 – 12 July 2017) was a South African jazz, fusion and mbaqanga musician born in Mpumalanga to Thabethe Phiri, a Malawian immigrant worker, and South African guitarist nicknamed "Just Now" Phiri. He was ...

Sipho Mabuse Sipho "Hotstix" Mabuse (born in Johannesburg, 2 November 1951) is a South African singer. Sipho grew up in Soweto. His mother was Zulu and his father was Tswana. Sipho and his band used to be managed by Solly Nkuta, After dropping out of scho ...

, Mlunhgisi Gegane, and

Busi Mhlongo Busi Mhlongo (28 October 1947 – 15 June 2010), born as Victoria Busisiwe Mhlongo, was a singer, dancer and composer originally from Inanda in Natal, South Africa. Biography Mhlongo drew on various South African styles such as Mbaqanga, Mask ...

Musical career

He admired the traditionally derived pop of local musicians such as

Thomas Mapfumo Thomas Tafirenyika Mapfumo (born July 3, 1945) is a musician nicknamed "The Lion of Zimbabwe" and "Mukanya" (the praise name of his clan in the Shona language) for his immense popularity and for the political influence he wields through his mu ...

. His first album was released by

BMG BMG may refer to: Organizations * Music publishing companies: ** Bertelsmann Music Group, a 1987–2008 division of Bertelsmann that was purchased by Sony on October 1, 2008 *** Sony BMG, a 2004–2008 joint venture of Bertelsmann and Sony that wa ...

in Africa in the early 1990s ten years after it was recorded. ''Shamwari'', his international debut album, introduced him as a guitarist who combined African pop and jazz. In April 2000, Mhlanga produced

Vusi Mahlasela Vusi Sidney Mahlasela Ka Zwane (born 1965 in Pretoria, South Africa) is a Sotho South African singer-songwriter. His music is generally described as "African folk" and he is often dubbed as "The Voice" of South Africa. His work was an inspir ...

's fourth album and appeared on it. In 1999, a live duo recording with Mahlasela resulted in the album ''Vusi and Louis Live at the Bassline''. He was involved with

Thandi Klaasen Thandi Klaasen (born Thandiwe Nelly Mpambani, 27 September 1931 – 15 January 2017) was a jazz musician from Sophiatown, Gauteng. She was the mother of singer Lorraine Klaasen. Biography Thandiwe Nelly Mpambani grew up in Sophiatown, the daught ...

's album ''Two of a Kind'', which was initiated by Dutch singer

Stef Bos Steven "Stef" Bos (born 12 July 1961 in Veenendaal) is a Dutch singer who has been living in Cape Town, South Africa. He sings in Dutch (and occasionally in Afrikaans), and has been successful in Belgium, the Netherlands and South Africa ever si ...

. Bos featured Louis on the album ''De Onderstroom'', for which he co-wrote the music of the title song. Mhlanga is on the album ''Place of Hope'', which contains collaborations with

George Duke George M. Duke (January 12, 1946 – August 5, 2013) was an American keyboardist, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer. He worked with numerous artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and as a pr ...

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, and

Dianne Reeves Dianne Elizabeth Reeves (born October 23, 1956) is an American jazz singer. Biography Dianne Reeves was born in Detroit, Michigan, into a musical family. Her father sang, her mother played trumpet, her uncle is bassist Charles Burrell, and h ...

. He is also on ''Fire in the Engine Room'' by

Andy Narell Andy Narell (born March 18, 1954) is an American jazz steel pannist, composer and producer. Biography Narell took up the steelpan at a young age in Queens, New York. His father, who was a social worker, had started a program of steelpan playing ...

. Following their South African tour, they released the album ''Live in S.A.'' He pursued a music engineering course in the United Kingdom in the 80s. That afforded him a chance to work with the internationally acclaimed Scottish outfit, Orange Juice. On his return to Zimbabwe he worked at the Baptist music studio as a sound engineer. Mhlanga recorded the solo albums ''Mukai'' and ''Music Ye Africa'' with Jethro Shasha, both at

Shed Studios Shed Studios was responsible for the production of hundreds of band recordings and a large body of music used for various advertisements and films in Rhodesia, and later in Zimbabwe, from 1975 until 2000. The company "Shed Recording Studios (Pvt) ...

in Harare. In 2001, he assembled The Louis Mhlanga Band with musicians who were influenced by jazz. The band was invited by SAFM, a South African radio station, to perform at the

National Arts Festival The National Arts Festival (NAF) is an annual festival of performing arts in Grahamstown, South Africa. It is the largest arts festival on the African continent and one of the largest performing arts festivals in the world by visitor numbers. Th ...

. The group released the album ''Shamwari'' (

Sheer Sound Sheer Sound is a South African independent record label formed in 1994 by Damon Forbes. History Sheer Sound was formed in November 1994, shortly after South Africa's first democratic elections. The label was initially a home for jazz and world ...

). Mhlanga has produced albums by Thomas Mapfumo, Nigerian

King Sunny Adé Chief Sunday Adeniyi Adegeye (born 22 September 1946), known professionally as King Sunny Adé, is a Nigerian jùjú singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is regarded as one of the first African pop musicians to gain international ...

, and South African Vusi Mahalasela. A former theater director, Mhlanga ran Zimbabwe's Ethnomusicology Trust, where he was in charge of developing national teaching programs for traditional and contemporary

Zimbabwean music Zimbabwean music is heavily reliant on the use of instruments such as the mbira, Ngoma drums and hosho. Their music symbolizes much more than a simple rhythm, as the folk and pop style styled music was used as a symbol of hope for Zimbabweans ...

. He also spent a year in the Netherlands. As the musician-in-residence at the Royal Dutch Conservatory of Music, he taught African guitar courses and recorded albums with bassist Eric van der Westen, one of which also included Malian guitarist and singer

Habib Koité Habib Koité ( bm, , Habib Kuwatɛ, born 1958 in Thiès, Senegal) is a Malian musician, singer, songwriter and griot based in Mali. His band, Bamada, was a supergroup of West African musicians, which included Kélétigui Diabaté on balafon ...

Discography

''Musik Ye Afrika'' ''Mukai'' ''Live at the Bassline'' with Vusi Mahlasela ''Shamwari''

References

* http://jazztimes.com/articles/14822-louis-mhlanga ''

JazzTimes ''JazzTimes'' is an American magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store. Coverage After a decade of growth ...

External links

Louis Mhlanga

Louis Mhlanga on National Geographic World Music
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mhlanga, Louis Living people 1974 births Zimbabwean musicians Zimbabwean guitarists Zimbabwean record producers 21st-century guitarists