Gentle Giant in SA Jazz
The South African, and more specifically the Cape Town, jazz scene owes a lot of credit to musician, George Werner - the quiet, shy and soft-spoken gentle giant in SA jazz. Werner’s legacy is embedded within the Cape Town jazz community as he sought to uplift the youth in underprivileged communities by sharing his love for music and jazz with them through various projects.
He contributed to the education of musicians through establishing the Little Giants, a vibrant jazz group that he ran with fellow jazz legend Ezra Ngcukana. He also worked with the late Duke Ngcukana at the music school, Music Action for People's Power (MAPP). A former technician at Telkom, Werner left his day job to play music professionally more than four decades ago.
He was born in 1956 and comes from a musical family: his grandfather, a priest, played over twenty musical instruments and his mother played piano.
Werner started performing in the 1980s, making appearances at local festivals which led to him performing abroad in countries such as Japan and Brazil. Werner performed and recorded with a variety of local jazz legends, like Winston ‘Mankunku’ Ngozi, The Ngcukana Brothers, Sylvia Mdunyelwa, Thandi Klaasen and Robbie Jansen.
His music has an elegant feel to it. He plays with grandeur, poise and always perfectly in harmony with his fellow band members. In 2006, Werner taught at the National Youth Jazz Festival in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape. In the same year, he produced a CD for the Little Giants jazz group. The CD was entirely comprised of the band members’ own original compositions.
He was also a Reference Member for the project, ‘Songs Worth Singing’, in 2007, which resulted in an e-book of indigenous songs and poetry.
In 2012, Werner won the SA Association for Jazz Education (SAJE) distinguished teacher award. Werner has shared his knowledge and expertise with numerous musicians who, under his learnership, went on to become great musicians in their own right.
Some of these include Chris Engel, Sisonke Xonti, Shaun Johannes, Lwando Gogwana and Carlo Fabe. Werner continues to perform at jazz clubs like The Crypt in the Cape Town City Bowl and at various other functions.
He still runs the Little Giants group, who do regular performances. He is not a giant in terms of his physique - it is his legacy that defines him. His work in youth and jazz development is unequalled. He is highly underrated in terms of media coverage, but Werner was never one for stardom; his loyalty and passion lay with music and educating the youth.