Local jazz artist Masala Mbevhana, known in the music industry as Raymond Blues, released his second album, titled "The Ghost of Elnita," earlier this month.
He mentioned that the album's name was influenced by something strange he experienced while living in the Elnita flats in Pretoria last year. "I was residing at Elnita flats in Wonderboom. When I arrived, everyone believed the flats were haunted by a ghost. Indeed, every night at midnight, there was an ungodly, disturbing noise emanating from the roof, and toilets would flush themselves. So, every night when this 'ghost' became active, I would pick up my guitar and try to find a tune that would distract me from the rumble upstairs. I discovered the rhythm for 'The Ghost of Elnita.' It didn't make the ghost disappear, but when I played my tune, the ghost's noise simply didn't matter to me anymore. All the troubling thoughts seemed to vanish," he explained.
Raymond Blues has since graduated and is now based in Khubvi village, where his father, Mr Zebulon Mbevhana, a recording artist with his own recording studio, also resides. Raymond Blues spends most of his time at the studio, working on producing more quality jazz music.
When asked about his choice of music, making jazz instead of amapiano or house music as his peers do, he stated that he was not a fan of organised noise. "I appreciate lyrics that speak to the inner soul; music with a message that provides hope to the present and future generations," he remarked.
Raymond Blues mentioned that his debut album, "Erupted Souls," released in July last year, was performing well both locally and internationally, especially in other African countries. He also leads his own jazz band. "Some of my band members have relocated to Limpopo, so we practise every weekend. We don't do lip-syncing when we are on stage; we choose to perform live. We would like to play every two weeks across the Limpopo Province, but it is challenging to secure venues for jazz music shows. We prefer performing in more organised venues, such as halls and hotels," he added.