Live in Jo’burg 1999 – Remastered 2025

This live album came during an important time in Moses Taiwa Molelekwa’s career – he had already established himself internationally with his earlier studio albums like “Finding Oneself” (1994) and “Genes and Spirits” (1997), and was being hailed as a successor to the great South African jazz pianists like Abdullah Ibrahim.

Sound engineer Martin Horne captured and conserved an electrifying performance at the Melville Bass Line in 1999. The recording is a stereo mix which came directly off the FOH desk.

Moses was accompanied by Sello Montwedi on drums, Joss Dhlathu on bass, Tlale Makhene on percussion, and Robert Manasoe on keyboards. Check out Taiwa’s interpretation of Bo Molelekwa – a track celebrating the artist’s Grandpa who was highly influential for Moses’ career.

If you listen to the audience you can feel that the guys were very much at home at the original Bassline. The original venue was located in Melville, Johannesburg, opening in 1994. It was a small, intimate live music venue that later moved to the Newtown Cultural Precinct in 2004.
Tragically, Molelekwa died in 2001 at age 27, cutting short what was a brilliant and innovative career in South African jazz.

Remastering an album of such cultural significance is often snubbed upon but when life long dedication and expertise can yield such results one can only congratulate the Mastering & Sound Engineer – Thank you Chris Lewis in London!  https://www.lewisaudio.com/