Almon Memela

Almon Sandisa Memela was born in 1936 in Donnybrook, KwaZulu-Natal, and went on to become one of South Africa's most quietly influential guitarist-composers of the 1970s.

Self-taught first on homemade instruments, later on borrowed ones, with no encouragement from his family, he moved to Johannesburg in 1956 after a stint at the United Tobacco Company in Durban, initially working on the mines before dedicating himself to music full-time.

His recording career began as early as 1959, with early releases credited to outfits such as Almon's Jazz Eight. His masterpiece, Funky Africa in 1975, recorded at Superdisc Studios, Johannesburg, blends soul, funk, mbaqanga, and maskandi into a heady rare-groove statement that became a crate-digger holy grail for decades.

The following year in 1976, he released Broken Shoes under the name Soweto, backed by the Pelican Club house band, featuring two sprawling fifteen-minute jams drenched in soulful horns and funky guitar. Beyond performing, Memela later moved into production, working as a producer for WEA Records in South Africa. Both flagship albums have been lovingly reissued by Canadian label We Are Busy Bodies, ensuring his legacy finally reaches the audience it always deserved.