MIKE MAKHALEMELE - Greatest Hits 1975-1982

A chronological journey through the early years of South African saxophonist Mike Makhalemele (1938-2000) and a showcase for his five classic albums from the As-Shams Archive catalogue.

Adapting the playlist and artwork of a 1978 compilation issued on the Flame label, Greatest Hits 1975-1982 features remastered tracks from the albums The Peacemaker (1975), The Bull and The Lion (1976), Peaceful Eyes (1976), Walking Spirit (1977) and Blue Mike (1982).

1. Going West 05:02

2. Snowfall 05:25

3. Peaceful Eyes 05:03

4. Walking Spirit (Dancing Soul) 07:36

5. I Remember You (Dedicated to Henry Sithole) 07:46

DIGITAL ALBUM

All Tracks Composed by Mike Makhalemele

Track 1 from the album The Peacemaker (1975):

Tenor Sax – Mike Makhalemele

Recorded by Allan Glen at Satbel Studios

Produced by Mike Makhalemele

Track 2 from the album The Bull and The Lion (1976):

Sax, Voices – Mike Makhalemele, Winston Mankunku Nkozi

Guitar – Trevor Rabin

Piano – Tete Mbambisa

Bass – Ronnie Robot

Drums – Neil Cloud

Recorded by Paul Dobbe at Satbel Studios

Produced by Jo'Burg Records

Track 3 from the album Peaceful Eyes (1976):

Tenor Sax – Mike Makhalemele

Recorded by Tony Butler at Satbel Studios

Produced by Jo'Burg Records

Track 4 from the album Walking Spirit (1977):

Tenor Sax – Mike Makhalemele, Stanley Sithole

Trumpet – Danny Sithole

Keyboards – Jabu Nkosi

Guitar – Paul Petersen

Bass – Tonny Saoli

Drums – Nelson Magwaza

Recorded by Greg Cutler at Satbel Studios

Produced by Julian Laxton

Track 5 from the album Blue Mike (1982):

Tenor Sax – Mike Makhalemele

Piano, Organ – Jabu Nkosi

Bass – Zulu Bidi

Drums, Percussion – Nelson Magwaza

Produced by Rashid Vally

Remastered by Richard Vossgatter 

Compiled and Produced by Calum MacNaughton

Cat. No. KRS 204

℗ 1975, 1976, 1977, 1982 © 2026 As-Shams Archive

MIKE MAKHALEMELE - Blue Mike

Nicknamed "Ratau" (meaning "Lion" in Setswana), Mike Makhalemele emerged as a solo recording artist force-of-nature in the late 1970s with a string of powerful releases on Jo'Burg Records. With the dismantling of the Jo'Burg catalogue at the beginning of the 1980s, label director Rashid Vally made some shrewd acquisitions and promptly reissued Makhelemele's 1975 debut The Peacemaker on As-Shams/The Sun in 1981 before embarking on the production of Blue Mike.

Mike Makhalemele hailed from the Alexandra jazz scene and boasted a number of auspicious 1970s associations with the likes of the Drive, Richard Jon Smith, Margaret Singana, Teaspoon Ndelu and Winston Mankunku. Under Jo'Burg's wing, he was an active session player and his run of solo releases from 1975 to 1982 was unmatched by any other South African saxophonist at the time.

Blue Mike is an accomplished and polished outing that leans heavily into a nostalgic yet modern take on swing peppered with virtuosic sax swag. An unrelenting Cape Jazz odyssey with Latin flair, "I Remember You" is dedicated to Drive saxophonist Henry Sithole, who died in in car accident 1977. The album also takes a mesmerising slow funk journey on the closer "Spring is Here."

Released in 1982, Blue Mike turned out to be a bookend for As-Shams, bringing an end to the imprint's golden age, which had started with Dollar Brand's Mannenberg - 'Is Where It's Happening' in 1974. Following its release, As-Shams shifted focus onto keeping back catalogue in print, later returning with the MANDLA and Roots imprints in the late 1980s and the Kalamazoo and African Echoes releases of the 1990s. Owing to the discovery of a lost batch of deadstock in the 2000s, Blue Mike is the most accessible original pressing to source from the As-shams catalogue.

Tenor Saxophone - Mike Makhalemele

Piano/Organ - Jabu Nkosi

Bass - Zulu Bidi

Drums/Percussion - Nelson Magwaza

Composer: Ratau M. Makhalemele

Produced by Rashid Vally

Original Release 1982 • Cat. No. SRK 786152

DIGITAL ALBUM