Bhudaza Mapefane
Bhudaza Mapefane (born 23 September 1961) is a Lesotho-born jazz musician and pianist who also plays saxophone. He grew up in Hlotse, Lesotho, and loved jazz from his father’s big collection. At 21 he started piano lessons with Mark Gorman at the Victoria Hotel and gave his first professional performance in 1985 with a Jazz Combo at Victoria Hotel and Maseru Casino Hotel.
He studied jazz at Mmabana Cultural Centre, learning from the Molobye brothers, Peter and Labane, and took saxophone lessons from Rene McLean in 1988. He joined Sankomota in 1989 as a pianist (later switching to sax) and later performed with The Village Pope, releasing the album Let’s Hold Hands in 1994. He also toured with Lucky Dube and formed Corner Stone Jazz. He studied jazz in Cape Town from 1997 to 2000 and joined Talima Jazz Band for the Hanover Expo in 2000. In 2003 he released his solo debut Bo-Mapefane, produced by Frank Leepa and released in South Africa by Universal Music Group, going multi-platinum. His third album Likhomo won a SAMA in 2010. He was named an Icon in the 2012 Vodacom Superstar Music Dance Competition and has received honors for Afro-jazz worldwide.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 17:05 (CET).