A Friendship Grounded In Jazz: McCoy Mrubata And Paul Hanmer

"My friendship with Paul is special."

Saxophonist McCoy Mrubata and pianist Paul Hanmer are longtime friends and partners who work together to make music that soothes the soul.

Although they are both from Cape Town, they only met in Johannesburg in 1988, when Hanmer was commissioned to write music for Mrubata.

Their friendship has gone from strength to strength — Mrubata said they are "celebrating our 30 years of friendship and music making".

The saxophonist told HuffPost their friendship is "special" and "very much grounded in jazz".

"The funny thing about Paul and myself, is that did not even occur to us that we are close. People used to tell us, 'You are tight' — it was 10 years later. We did not even realise we clicked. That is how jazz put us together."

The duo will be performing at the 2018 Standard Bank Joy of Jazz Festival in September, and Mrubata says he is also looking forward to seeing his idol, David Selbourne, perform.

"I wish I could share a stage with him, but we will see," he said.

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