Elijah Nkwanyana

Trumpeter and band-leader, Elijah Nkwanyana was born in 1931. Ngwanyana also performed with Banzi Bangani in the group the Johannesburg All Stars which included Sydney Nthalo on piano, Willie Malang on drums, and General Duze on guitar. Banzi Bangani in an interview told how he and Ngwanayana recruited a vocal group led by Siba Mokgosi and became the African Ink Spots. Their association with the group led them to perform on the 1949 film Jim Comes to Joburg the first feature film with an “all-African” cast. Bangani and Ngwanyana also taught a young Hugh Masekela aspects of the trumpet. In the 1950s he fronted the Elijah's Rhythm Kings and in 1957 Zonk magazine designated him composer of the year. Elijah Nkwanyana died all too early at the age of 38 on December 31st, 1969.