HERBIE Tsoaeli was raised in Nyanga East Township of Cape Town, South Africa. Herbie is a highly-respected electric and acoustic basse player who moved to Johannesburg in 1995. Herbie is often seen performing with Zim Ngqawana and Bheki Khoza as well as Sibongile Khamalo and Winston Mankunku Ngozi, the South African legendary tenor saxophonist. Mankunku’s 2003 album, “Abantwana Be Afrika”, features him as the featured bassist. Instrumentation: Bass guitar Genres: African Jazz, Jazz, and mbaqanga. Marcus Wyatt (trumpet) and Andile Yenana, Sydney Mnisi (piano), Lulu Gontsana, (drums), and Sydney Mnisi, (saxophone) have been his main focus. Recordings were made for the album Voice: A Quintet Legacy. Herbie has collaborated with internationally recognized artists like the pianists Abdullah Ibrahim, and Bheki Seleku. He has toured Europe and the United States with Zim Ngqawana. He also participated in cultural exchange projects with Keith Tippet’s band “Mujician.” This project was designed to highlight the music of South African diaspora musicians such as Johnny Dyani, Dudu Puukwana, and Chris MacGregor. Herbie also took part in “Friends Across Borders”, an exchange program that involved musicians from South Africa and Mozambique. Herbie was one of twelve musicians who were sponsored to promote the music from Southern Africa. The project resulted in a recording called Mahube. This is the Setswana word for ‘dawn’. Herbie is mostly self-taught, but he has also studied music development and community jazz programmes in Cape Town. He was an afro-pop member of Peto and Ikwezi in the 1980s. These include Music Action for People’s Power (NPO), and Merton Barrow’s Jazz Workshop, Cape Town. from http://www.music.org.za
