MAFATETTE profile picture

MAFATETTE

About Me

[BAND NAME] MAFATETTE.[INFLUENCES] All the music and dance for all occassions and moods in Southern Africa: Story-telling, games, protest, happiness, mourning, harvest, hunting, work, etc. As a child Mafata was intrigued by the smooth and sweet melodies, funky and complex rhythms of "The Mountain Kingdom" of Lesotho. Bands and groups like Mahotella Queens and Ladysmith Black Mambazo kindled the fire in him, and confirmed his direction towards music; as he grew.[STUDIES] To enhance his natural talent, he studied Jazz at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. He therefore performs a repertoire of Southern African Traditionals, Reggae, Funk, Township Jive, Famo, Kwela, Marabi, Gospel, blues, etc.; with a jazz approach. i.e. improvisation and extended harmonies.[INSTRUMETS PLAYED] Although Mafata plays electric basses, he really regards himself as a drummer/ percussionist (i.e. congas, djembe, bongos, timbales, etc. including drum-set). Add guitar, piano, hose pipe, and harmonica to this list.. and the title "Multi-instrumentalist" comes to order.Mafata Lemphane, aka Moh, has played some of these instruments in different bands and groups he worked with. eg. The Funk Explosion (Canada), KalimbaKalimba (Canada), John Tee Davis band Canada), Something Extra (UAE), Liziwe Mahashe band (South Africa), Jabulani band (South Africa), The Show band (Oosterdam Cruise Ship), Kemer Yousef band (Ethiopia), Dawit & Bereket band (Ethiopia), Richard Underhill Jazz Jam, CUPE Singers, and Victory and Praise church.[PREVIOUS PERFORMANCES] He has performed at festivals in Lesotho, South Africa, USA, Canada, Bahrain, Dubhai, and the Oosterdam Cruise Ship. The festivals included Jimmy Witherspoon festival, Ray Charles festival, Festival for 1000's, Graham'stown festival, Rustler's Valley festival, UCT Jazz festival, Afrofest festivals, Mosaic festival, Winterfolk festival, Bana-y-Afrique, Folk-on the-rocks Festival, Irie Festival, Black History Month fests, Bradstock, Mariposa, etc.[DISCOGRAPHY] Percussionist on Wayne Cass' My New Piano CD (Canada); Percussionist on Richard Underhill's Kensington Suite CD (Canada); and Percussionist on Sibongile Nene's Sangoma CD (South Africa).Bassist on Adam Solomon's Tabia CD (Canada); and Bassist, and vocals on Mosa Neshama's Back in Town CD (Canada).[AWARD/ NOMINATIONS] (a) Nominated by Lesotho National Curriculum Development Centre for board membership responsible to drafting and designing a national Music education program in 1994 (b) Nominee for Best New Performer by Toronto African Music Awards 2001.[OTHER] (a) English-Sesotho translator: - "The Man Who Couldn't Sleep"; CBC Studios documentary film. - "Ts'epong: A Place of Hope"; an award winning HIV/AIDS documentary film by Dr. Berger. (b) Wrote/ Composed sound-track for documentary film based on the aftermath of landmines in Mozambique, by Andrew Sherwood. (c) Wrote, directed and edited a documentary film "Le nna ke folile"; based on the prevention and cure of Tuberculosis. (d) Wrote/ Composed music sound-track for the film mentioned in (c) above. (e) He gives Lessons on drums, bass, percussion, music theory, improvization and performance.For bookings/ further info: [email protected] [email protected] tel:647-8984226

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 23/12/2006
Band Website: http://www.myspace.com/mafatette
Band Members: Myfada Mafata L_M (bass, percussion, vox); Great Bob Scott (drumset); Richard Underhill (sax); Geoff Bournes (sax); Stacey McGregor (keys); and David West (guitar).Moreover, the following artistes have also been featured in MAFATETTE - Bass: Brandi Disterheft, Walid Abdulhamid. Sax: Kate Mossman, David French, Jim Heineman, Bobby Hsu, Brodie West, Charlie Finlay. Drumset: Kevin Dean, Don Pham, Koffi Ackah, Ian Green, Walter Maclean Trumpet: Tim Hamel, Alex Thompson, Thabiso Pooe. Keyboards: Seth Vorgzorgbe, Marius Dimitrescu, Brian Horswill, Ashley Wey, Dave Williams, Peter Measroch. Vocals: Lizzy Mahashe Guitar: Thato Mohoanyane, Aron Nihitounga, Adam Solomon, and Tom Eliosoff.Great musicians all.
Influences: Music being God's language, I, as a general principle acknowledge and lend an ear to every musician I come across; advanced or beginner. My small ears work wonders, and I always learn something good - or not - from each performer I listen to. I stretch my versatility towards playing any genre thrown at me; be it Ethiopian, Eritrian, Latin jazz, R&B, or whatever.Let me make mention of some of the artists who played a major role of influence: Mirriam Makeba, Caiaphus Semenya, Abdullah Ibrahim, Stevie Wonder, Billy Cobham, Nana Motijoane, Ray Charles, BB King, Moki Leepa, Mobu Tshola, Pitso Sera, Alex Acuna, Dave Weckel, Steve Gadd, Nelson Magwaza (my 1st drumset teacher!), Mabi Thobejane, Miles Davis, Dizzy Guillespie, Tete Mbambisa, Victor Bailey, Michael Campbell, Winston Mankunku, JP Mohapeloa, Letsema Matshela, Mokhotlong LEC choir, John Williams Coltrane, Khaya Mahlangu, Sipho Mabuse, Art Tatum, Marcus Miller, Duke Ellington, Carmen Macrae, Mamafata Lemphane-Mohoanyane, and Thato Mohoanyane; - to name a few. Did I mention Billy Cobham already? Ya, the man is awesome.
Sounds Like: Southern African Jazz, traditional, reggae, funk, Afro-fusion, Mafataoloana.
Record Label: Unsigned

My Blog

2009 Wage Rates

February 1st 2009.You require my services? Making/ performing music? Oookedokey. Then this is what you have to do:(a) Inquire about rates per 45-minute sets that include/ exclude rehearsals..(b) Be pr...
Posted by on Wed, 04 Feb 2009 18:33:00 GMT

Ko ko ko ko!

As I was saying,..My neighbour has had enough of me always ranting about being good to life. So this is for you  - out there.My words and actions have healed people in one way or another in the past a...
Posted by on Mon, 15 Oct 2007 16:43:00 GMT