A few days ago when I broke the death news to Jazz musician, Claude Deppa, after the initial shock, the charismatic Claude remarked : "He was too fast for London. No wonder he moved to Brazil. Alan was ahead of his time."
There are two types of human beings.
There are two types of human beings.
Those
whose goals are achieved in their country of origin; and ones whose dreams are fulfilled in foreign lands. Like Mohammed Farah who moved from Somalia and is now a celebrated athlete in the UK; or the
Jewish thinker and author, Karl Marx who fled Germany in the 19th century
and died in London. Remmy Ongala left Congo in 1978 and brought prestige to
Tanzanian music, died and was buried in Dar es Salaam two years ago.
Living in a huge,
cosmopolitan city like London makes you meet such individuals. 300 languages are spoken here. In such a maze of cultures and nationalities, I met Alan Hayman, a South African community enthusiast and musician in 1991.
Alan Hayman (first right, seated on his beloved Congas) in his hey days with Sambatucada band. One can see how Alan enjoyed working and collaborating with others...Pic courtsey of Vera Lucia Pereira da Silva.
Back then I was living in Rio de Janeiro and had
reviewed an international film festival for a London magazine. While visiting
the country my agent (who was based in London) said she had got a call from this
African guy.
