After his debut, Tefo Mahola hungers for more

This article was first published in New Frame.

Tefo Mahola’s drum kit is spread across his bedroom. It takes up more than half the space, with his bed tucked away to one side. The room is filled with various instruments: smaller African drums, a keyboard, speakers and a sound system. Video game controllers lie nearby. On a Tuesday morning, an incense stick cleanses the space while the sound of Donald Byrd’s trumpet drifts in the background. We are in Gugulethu, in the semi-detached back room of the house where Mahola grew up.

In person, Mahola gives off a cool, easy-going energy. If you’ve had your ear to the ground over the past few years, there’s a good chance you would have encountered Mahola playing somewhere in Cape Town. The 26-year-old drummer, pianist, poet, composer and arranger has put in hard work playing across the city’s music scene. He is part of the younger generation now carrying the torch for the jazz community.

In a short time, Mahola has developed his expressive style. The musician – who has earned the nickname “Talking Drum” for his style – quietly released his debut album, the aptly titled First Offering, in July last year.

A familial influence

Mahola credits his uncle Nkoebe Phillip Ramosoeu – who died two years ago – as being his chief musical influence while growing up. His uncle was a lover of jazz, soul and funk and found a keen student in Mahola. 

“He had a stack of LPs and always had the latest sound system. He was always playing these jams and telling me, ‘Listen to this. This is the music, not this stuff you kids are listening to now’,” he recalls.

While Mahola started experimenting with piano in primary school, he explains that “it wasn’t actually really playing. I was just chasing the guy around who used to come there to play the national anthem and school songs during assembly. And I was just persistent in asking him to show me a few things on the piano.” 

His primary school had limited resources for extramural activities, so Mahola only picked up music in high school, starting with piano, which influenced the way he later composed. Soon enough, though, he “levitated to the drums”, saying it was love at first sight. 

Mahola became truly interested in jazz after hearing Max Roach’s music. He was introduced to it by his drum teacher at the time, percussionist Oliver Schenk. “His playing just sold it for me. Like his soloing and how melodic it was,” Mahola says. “I mostly checked out his solos and how effortlessly he made the drums seem. I wanted to technically be able to play effortlessly. And I’m still on my way there.” Towards the end of high school, he decided to pursue music as a career – supported in this decision by his mother. 

While doing a BA in jazz studies at the University of the Western Cape, Mahola made the difficult decision to quit after earning his degree but before completing a final year, which would qualify him to teach. The heaviness of academia weighed down on him and stood in the way of his real love: playing music. Rain in Solace, which appears on his debut album, was one of the earliest songs he composed. It captures the depression he experienced during his studies and signifies the choice he made to dedicate his future to music.

First steps

As the album title suggests, First Offering is an introduction to Mahola’s ideas. It includes compositions dating back to 2015. “This album was really just the first step forward into something … These are songs that I feel best envisage this first version of myself that I’m wanting to give out to the people [right now]. It got to a point where I felt I really wanted to release this music, otherwise it’s going to get old. So, this is the first time where I felt this is enough.” 

First Offering is a wonderful first release. The spirit of groove drives a big part of the sound. Each composition roughly riffs on a theme that continues in the following song. Before the Tear segues into The Tear. The moods change between tracks, giving us a sense of where Mahola’s head is at.