South African Jazz Musician Ray Phiri Dies

The SABC on this morning reported that  South African jazz legend, Ray Phiri had died. The 70-year-old musician suffered from lung cancer and had recently been admitted to a hospital in Nelspruit.

In an interview with The Sowetan earlier this month Phiri asked for space and privacy during his sickbed. He told the newspaper: “Let me suffer [in peace with my] pain, on my own with my dignity.”

Phiri - a jazz, fusion and mbaqanga musician - was born on 23 March 1947 near Nelspruit , Mpumalanga. He was a founding member of the Cannibals in the 1970s. Later, the Cannibals would grow in size and rename themselves, becoming the hugely influential Afro-fusion band Stimela.

Phiri was scheduled to perform at Rocking the Daisies music festival later this year. May God rest his soul.