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Line 1: {{Short description\|South African saxophonist and jazz musician (1925–1983)}} '''Jeremiah "Kippie" Morolong Moeketsi''' (27 July 1925–27 April 1983)<ref name=Schadeberg /> was a [[South Africa]]n jazz musician, notable as an alto saxophonist.<ref>[http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/kippie-jeremiah-moeketsi "Kippie Jeremiah Moeketsi", South African History Online.]</ref> He is sometimes referred to as "the father of South African jazz"<ref>[[Maya Jaggi]], [https://www.theguardian.com/music/2001/dec/08/jazz "The sound of freedom"], ''[[The Guardian]]'', 8 December 2001.</ref> and as "South Africa's [[Charlie Parker]]".<ref name=Schadeberg>Jurgen Schadeberg, [https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=HkuXMAtuAh4C&pg=PA145&lpg=PA145&dq=kippie+moeketsi+died+april+1983&source=bl&ots=5Y0_a2LWu9&sig=xNhX_P6047EbsGintu4AJgycN2M&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjhvqHC3sbQAhUGDcAKHRcJBSQQ6AEIJzAC#v=onepage&q=kippie%20moeketsi%20died%20april%201983&f=false "Profiles"], ''Jazz, Blues & Swing: Six Decades of Music in South Africa'', New Africa Books, 2007, p. 145.</ref> He played with and influenced some of South Africa's great musicians, including [[Jonas Gwangwa]], [[Abdullah Ibrahim]], [[Miriam Makeba]] and [[Hugh Masekela]].▼ {{Use dmy dates\|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox musical artist \| name = Kippie Moeketsi \| image = \| alt = \| caption = \| birth_name = Jeremiah Morolong Moeketsi \| birth_date = {{birth date\|1925\|07\|27\|df=yes}} \| birth_place = [[Johannesburg]], South Africa \| death_date = {{death date and age\|1983\|04\|27\|1925\|07\|27\|df=yes}} \| death_place = \| occupation = \| spouse = <!-- Use article title or common name --> \| partner = <!-- (unmarried long-term partner) --> \| background = person \| genre = Jazz \| instrument = [[Alto saxophone]] \| discography = \| years_active = <!-- YYYY–YYYY (or –present) --> \| label = \| past_member_of = Band in Blue<br/>Shantytown Sextet<br/>Harlem Swingsters<br/>[[The Jazz Epistles]] }} ▲'''Jeremiah "Kippie" Morolong Moeketsi''' (27 July ~~1925–27~~1925 – 27 April 1983)<ref name=Schadeberg /> was a [[South ~~Africa]]n~~African jazz musician, notable as an alto saxophonist.<ref>[http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/kippie-jeremiah-moeketsi "Kippie Jeremiah Moeketsi", South African History Online.]</ref> He is sometimes referred to as "the father of South African jazz"<ref>[[Maya Jaggi]], [https://www.theguardian.com/music/2001/dec/08/jazz "The sound of freedom"], ''[[The Guardian]]'', 8 December 2001.</ref> and as "South Africa's [[Charlie Parker]]".<ref name=Schadeberg>~~Jurgen~~[[Jürgen Schadeberg]], [https://books.google.~~co.uk~~com/books?id=HkuXMAtuAh4C~~&pg=PA145&lpg=PA145~~&dq=kippie+moeketsi+died+april+1983&~~source~~pg=~~bl&ots=5Y0_a2LWu9&sig=xNhX_P6047EbsGintu4AJgycN2M&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjhvqHC3sbQAhUGDcAKHRcJBSQQ6AEIJzAC#v=onepage&q=kippie%20moeketsi%20died%20april%201983&f=false~~PA145 "Profiles"], ''Jazz, Blues & Swing: Six Decades of Music in South Africa'', New Africa Books, 2007, p. 145.</ref> He played with and influenced some of South Africa's great musicians, including [[Jonas Gwangwa]], [[Abdullah Ibrahim]], [[Miriam Makeba]] and [[Hugh Masekela]]. ==Biography== Born into a musical [[Johannesburg]] family, Jeremiah Morolong Moeketsi was the youngest of 11 brothers, and one sister who was a nurse (Mirriam Ntsadi Kathar, ''née'' Moeketsi), all but four of whom played an instrument. Growing up in [[Eastern Native Township\|George Goch]] township was unpleasant for him and he was often truant.<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.joburg.org.za/sep_2002/kippie.stm \|title=Kippies, the club that wasn't always there \|date=September 16, 2002 \|first=Lucille \|last=Davie \|url-status=dead \|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20051220025800/http://www.joburg.org.za/sep_2002/kippie.stm \|archivedate=December 20, 2005 }}</ref> According to the Johannesburg official website, "His mother used to go looking for him, shouting: 'kippie-kippie-kippie', as if he were a chicken" — hence his nickname.<ref name=Kippies /> At 20 he started playing clarinet, but would soon move on to the saxophone. Influenced by his pianist brother [[Jacob Moeketsi]], Kippie's career began playing in [[shebeen]]s with his group, known as ~~theBand~~the Band in Blue. Over the years he played with several bands, including [[Shantytown Sextet]], the [[Harlem Swingsters]] and famously the ''[[The Jazz Epistles\|Jazz Epistles]]'' that brought fame to him, [[Abdullah Ibrahim]] (or Dollar Brand as he was known then), [[Jonas Gwangwa]], and [[Hugh Masekela]]. Moeketsi claimed that he taught Ibrahim everything he knew about music.<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://disa.nu.ac.za/articledisplaypage.asp?articletitle=A+tribute+to+Kiepie+Moeketsi+-+%22Bra+Joe+from+Kilimanjaro%22&filename=SeMar85\|title=A tribute to Kiepie Moeketsi - "'Bra Joe from Kilimanjaro"'\|url-status=dead\|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604202221/http://disa.nu.ac.za/articledisplaypage.asp?articletitle=A+tribute+to+Kiepie+Moeketsi+-+%22Bra+Joe+from+Kilimanjaro%22&filename=SeMar85\|archivedate=2011-06-04}}</ref> Ibrahim has credited Moeketsi with introducing him to the music of his greatest influence., [[Thelonious Monk]].<ref>[[Robin Kelley\|Robin D. G. Kelley]], ''Africa Speaks, America Answers: Modern Jazz in Revolutionary Times''], Harvard University Press, 2012, pp. 201–211, note 65, referencing Abdullah Ibrahim, "Monk in Harlem: A Short Brief on Some Aspects of the Music of Thelonious Monk".</ref> Often introduced as "Bra Joe from [[Kilimanjaro]]" (Abdullah Ibrahim wrote a composition of that title to feature him),<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZoHLnyN4KI "Dollar Brand + 3 - Bra Joe From Kilimanjaro"]. YouTube.</ref> Moeketsi joined the cast of [[Todd Matshikiza]]'s musical ''[[King Kong (SA musical)\| King Kong]]'', which would take him to [[London]] in 1961. After the [[Sharpeville massacre]] of 1960, most of his contemporaries went into exile, but he returned to South Africa. In the oppressive circumstances he would not perform for four years.<ref>{{cite web\|title=Township Jazz \|author=Mike Gavin\|year=2001\|url=http://www.ronniescotts.co.uk/ronnie_scotts/ronniescotts/129/129_08.htm\|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20050405061340/http://www.ronniescotts.co.uk/ronnie_scotts/ronniescotts/129/129_08.htm\|archivedate=5 April 2005}}</ref> After many years of alcohol abuse, Moeketsi died penniless and disgruntled in 1983, aged 58.<ref>{{cite web \|url=https://joburg.org.za/play_/Pages/Play%20in%20Joburg/Culture%20and%20Heritage/Links/Kippies,-the-club-that-wasn't-there.aspx \|title=Kippie,the club that wasn't there \|website=City of Johannesburg \|access-date=January 30, 2024}}</ref> ==Legacy== The [[Newtown, Johannesburg\|Newtown]] jazz club Kippies, located at the [[Market Theatre (Johannesburg)\|Market Theatre]] in Johannesburg, is named after him.<ref>[http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/kippie-jeremiah-moeketsi "Kippie Jeremiah Moeketsi"], South African History Online, 17 February 2011.</ref><ref name=Kippies>[http://www.joburg.org.za/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=284&Itemid=51 "Kippies, the club that wasn't there"], Joburg official website, 16 September 2002.</ref> A bronze sculpture of him, designed by Guy du Toit and Egon Tania, was unveiled on 25 September 2009. At the ceremony, Jonas Gwangwa said of his former mentor: "Bra Kippie was a very, very talented musician ... he became a father of jazz.... He was very challenging. He'd just walk on stage, take out his horn and play."<ref name=Joburg>[http://www.joburg.org.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4372 "Kippie lives on in Newtown"], Joburg official website, 29 September 2009.</ref> * HeMoeketsi is the subject of a 1999 documentary film by Glenn Ujebe Masokoane entitled ''Blues For Kippie''.<ref>[http://www.williambowles.info/musicsa/essays/kippie.html "Essays: Glenn Ujebe Masokoane's Blues For Kippie, a documentary film".]</ref> ==Further reading== Line 19 ⟶ 42: ==References== {{reflist~~\|30em~~}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Moeketsi, Kippie}} [[Category:1925 births]] [[Category:1983 deaths]] [[Category:South African jazz ~~musicians~~saxophonists]] [[Category:Musicians from Johannesburg]] [[Category:20th-century saxophonists]] [[Category:Jazz alto saxophonists]] [[Category:The Jazz Epistles members]]