Don Albert: the jazzy wandering Jew

PETER FELDMAN

I had the pleasure of working with this amazing human being on The Star Tonight. I covered pop music, and he was the jazz fundi. We worked together for close to three decades, and his knowledge of the subject was unsurpassed. Even top overseas jazz critics and musicians recognised his abilities.

His mind was like an encyclopaedia, and if I wanted to know anything about a musician, or band, Don was the man to go to. He never disappointed.

Don, who was first and foremost a formidable saxophonist with his own band, came to the attention of the late Percy Baneshik, the editor of the arts and entertainment section at The Star where I was working.

Percy was impressed with Don’s jazz background and asked him to write about it for the newspaper as we had nobody to cover that beat.

Before long, when the Tonight supplement was launched in 1976, Don became a permanent member of the team. He was also asked to cover the TV beat, which he did very well.

Over the years, Don and I worked harmoniously together. He was forthright in his criticism, and was spot on in identifying good and bad musicianship. We sometimes argued good naturedly over our respective music beats. He didn’t think too much of the music I covered, but I respected his point of view.

He was ruthlessly honest in his dealings with people, and had a wicked sense of humour which often had people in stitches, especially when he had a few whiskeys under his belt.

When he first started at The Star, he didn’t have a permanent desk, and he kept muttering that he was like a wandering Jew.

Don spent a great deal of his time overseas, visiting clubs, attending jazz festivals all over the world, winning awards in his field, and mixing with some of the jazz greats. He had so many stories to tell, and his jazz collection was unsurpassed.

He wrote for a number of newspapers and magazines in South Africa, and was a correspondent for several prestigious international jazz journals, including Downbeat (United States) and Jazz Journal International (United Kingdom). He was one of the few people who was featured on radio, television (he had his own shows), and in print media – a journalist’s dream.

For five years, he hosted the weekly Jazz Studio on SABC TV and his talent was heard on other major stations, including 702.

In 1981, he started a campaign to change the law that prevented black musicians from performing in “white” licensed premises. The law was rescinded in 1985. At the time, his house was being watched by the police because the authorities thought he had Communist tendencies. It is believed he was close to being arrested.

But this didn’t deter him. He was always the life and soul of any party, with an armoury of risqué jokes that cracked up a party.

Don’s cousin, Selwyn Miller, is an ex-Capetonian in the music business in New Orleans, where he relocated many years ago and operates a thriving music agency. Miller, who knew many great artists personally, often travelled with Don to attend concerts and music festivals.

On his Facebook page, Miller wrote a moving tribute to his late cousin. “He will certainly be missed by the jazz community throughout the world. He was head and shoulders the most knowledgeable jazz historian ever to come out of South Africa. Don had an incredible sense of humour. We had so many laughs together, and watched so much brilliant music together when he visited and stayed with me in America.

“As kids in music in Cape Town, we were the black sheep of our family. In Sea Point, Jewish parents wanted you to be a doctor or in some profession. We were interested in only one thing – music. I’ll miss our long talks about music. There was always a strong mutual respect. Maybe you can do that jam with your friend Charlie Parker, as your late mother used to say.”

Don was not religiously observant, but was a proud Jew.

Radio DJ Brian Oxley wrote on Facebook, “Jazz flowed through his veins 24/7. An incredibly knowledgeable journalist and musician. Loved our times together on 5FM.”

Singer and actress Anne Power added, “What a beautiful man.”

All those who knew him will be saddened by his loss. He leaves a son, Blake. His wife and daughter passed away many years ago.

Don Albert’s life was “all about jazz”, and he truly lived it.