Hotep Idris Galeta: Jazz pianist, educator and exile

Hotep Idris Galeta, the South African jazz colossus who has died at the age of 69 after suffering an asthma attack on Wednesday, was so much in love with jazz, the art form, that he named one of his sons Jazz.

"Can you believe that?" asked longtime friend Jay Reddy, on learning of his friend's death. "Can you believe that? A man who so loved this music that he named a son after this special thing we call jazz! And now he is gone."

"I never saw him angry," says jazz enthusiast Mesh Mapetla. "Bra Hotep taught me a lot. And you know, he played with many giants abroad in exile; Jackie McLean, Bud Powell and many of them cats. I recall, for instance, when he said to me I must always remember that jazz is a living art."

Hotep was of Islamic bent, but preached the universality of a common god; who could only be accessed by a true grasp of the scriptures of the chosen tongue and religion of jazz.

Galeta was born on June 7 1941. His name, before he changed to Hotep Idris, was Cecil Barnard. He once told an interviewer: "I legally changed my name to Hotep Idris Galeta in the late '80s when I embarked upon a personal spiritual quest. In fact, my traditional last name is Galeta, but my father's Christian name was Barnard ... so folks used to call me Cecil Barnard, which is the name I used when I was in South Africa. My personal spiritual journey (after leaving South Africa in 1961), was also the result of me embracing and exploring aspects within the Islamic mystical traditions called Sufism. In Cape Town, where I grew up, I was exposed to this way of life as a youngster because we have quite a large Muslim community here. It is quite common in South African society, particularly in the communities where I come from, to have family members who are Christians and Muslims. This mystical way of life and philosophy was appealing because music, dance and a holistic approach to life played a central role as the catalyst in the rituals to expand one's consciousness."

Galeta is survived by his wife, Angela, and children Shawn, Jazz, Ghairunisa, Harold and Nefertari.