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Alongside the likes of As-Shams recording artists Pat Matshikiza and Tete Mbambisa, Lionel Pillay was one of the legendary pianists to emerge during the golden age of South Africa jazz in the 1960s. A sideman to and friend of Winston Mankunku Ngozi, Pillay appears on the most lauded historic recording from this era – the Mankunku Quartet’s 1968 long-player Yakhal’ Inkomo. Pillay later recorded his own version of the album’s title track, now a South African jazz standard, which was issued on the compilation Shrimp Boats in 1987.
Lionel Pillay’s broad list of associations is a testament to how widely respected he was in South Africa’s diverse jazz scene. In addition to his work with Mankunku, he played with Hugh Masekela in the early 1960s, produced the exquisite long-form recordings “Shrimp Boats” and “Cherry” with Basil Coetzee in the 1970s and collaborated with trumpeter Murray Campbell and saxophonist Bez Martin in the 1980s. However, is it with his 1980 album Deeper in Black, backed by core members of the jazz-fusion supergroup Spirits Rejoice, that his legacy was cemented.
Lionel Pillay’s broad list of associations is a testament to how widely respected he was in South Africa’s diverse jazz scene. In addition to his work with Mankunku, he played with Hugh Masekela in the early 1960s, produced the exquisite long-form recordings “Shrimp Boats” and “Cherry” with Basil Coetzee in the 1970s and collaborated with trumpeter Murray Campbell and saxophonist Bez Martin in the 1980s. However, is it with his 1980 album Deeper in Black, backed by core members of the jazz-fusion supergroup Spirits Rejoice, that his legacy was cemented.