Big Band Musician
Joel Mbrooks Mlomo was a South African jazz musician and singer. He was well-known as the founder of The Merry Macs, a famous jazz band from Langa. Mlomo was born in 1923 in Ndabeni, Cape Town. In 1933, his family was forcibly moved to Langa.
He started singing from age 12. One of the first jazz musicians of Langa, Tem Hawker, taught Mlomo singing and tap dancing. He was one of the original members of Tem Hawker’s Harmony Kings band where he played piano before he was replaced by Glider Jacobs. He then formed his own big band, The Merry Macs.
The band consisted of various musicians from Langa. They played a mix of American jazz and Xhosa Marabi / Mbaqanga dance music. He went on to form many vocal groups: Merry Macs Sisters, Hay Marketers, Zum Bum Rhythm, Rhythm Jigglers, Voice of Cape Town and Sentimental Monarchs.
Mlomo also played with his best friend, Christopher Columbus Ngcukana, in the De Bafana band, where he stood in for Moses Molelekoa on piano.
He also performed with The Hip Cats, a trio with Ngcukana on tenor saxophone and Joe Oliphant on bass. He played guitar in his later years and was also an artist who drew the posters for advertising their shows. Mlomo passed away on 10 March 2016, after a long illness with diabetes, which resulted in double leg amputations.
The Merry Macs Band
In 1942, Mbrooks Mlomo formed The Merry Macs: Sacks Bele, trumpet; Joe Mazula, trombone; Joe Wats, trumpet; Richard Mlomo, drums; Peter Hashe, alto sax; Larry Hobongwana, alto sax; James Bebeza, tenor sax; Kalamazoo Mzwakali, tenor sax; and Mbrooks Mlomo, piano.
The Merry Macs had their own truck that they toured the country in for 6 months, visiting places in the Western and Northern Cape. They could unfortunately not go to Johannesburg as they did not own a permit. Ultimately the band broke up and reformed when Themba Mathole joined and took over as the pianist, and Peter Daniels joined Joe Wats and Sacks Bele on trumpets and Oubas 'Saint' Malgas on drums.