During its hey day, jazz in South Africa was not a remote elitist art form but was an entertainment music of the masses. Township residents danced and partied to the strains of eight to twelve-piece bands that served up a dynamic mixture of African melodies and harmonies combined with the instrumentation of American swing bands. Because of Apartheid, this music was seldom heard outside of South Africa. The musicians who created this music are scarcely known in Europe and North America and there is little mention of their recordings in jazz discographies. Biographical information about the musicians themselve is also lacking. These pages are an attempt to redress the balance as far as Zacks Nkosi is concerned.

One day, Rob Allingham, the former Gallo music archivist, will hopefully present us with his discography of South African music. He is the major authority on this subject and these pages are just a small stop gap until that magnus opus appears. However, he faces a difficult task. This is what he wrote in 2000:

The would-be discographer in South Africa usually faces a situation that is rather more difficult than that obtaining in countries characterised by a longstanding preservationist mindset (England springs most readily to mind). Remarkably little original archival paper material of any kind has been preserved by South African music companies. Most do not even have file the fact that hundreds if not thousands copies of each issue were originally printed. As for those ultimate sources of discographical data, the studio ledgers that systematically documented day-by-day recording activities, almost all have been lost or destroyed.
Furthermore, an unusually large (by international standards) percentage of South Africa’s master recordings have also been lost or destroyed, thus eliminating yet another primary source for discographical details. Hardly a single example of a metal master has survived from the pre-tape days (roughly before 1950) of direct-cut recordings.
Even from the master tape era, entire catalogues are missing. What this means, then, is that preserving and archiving issued recordings in whatever form assumes an even more critical role in South African discographical research than would normally be the case if the usual primary sources were still available.
Discography - A Minefield? by Rob Allingham, SASA Newsletter, Jan - Mar 2000, South African Society of Archivists)

Given the disastrous state the record company archives, it may be that a partial discography can be gradually built up from the knowledge of individual record collectors and enthusiasts. With the help of matrix nos, it is possible to work out a chronology of recording, though not the actual dates. As far a personnel is concerned, this will always going be a matter of intelligent guesses.

In recent years, a number of excellent websites dedicated to South African music have emerged. These include flatinternational, Matsuli, Electric Jive, Soul Safari, 3rd Ear Music, music.org.za, SA Rock Encyclopedia, SAMAP and ILAM. The

Although someone in Britain is not necessarily best placed to bring this information together, it is a very small start. Please treat these pages as a work in progress. With your help they can do something to give Bra Zacks the international reputation he deserves.

If you can supply more information, please email  Ned Newitt with:
the matrix number - the title - the composer and the record or album number plus any personnel details.

LINKS
Disa
Flatinternational
Electro Jive.
Matsuli
Soulsafari