Ray Phiri

Raymond Chikapa Enock Phiri (23 March 1947 – 12 July 2017) was a South African jazz, fusion and mbaqanga musician born in Mpumalanga to Thabethe Phiri, a Malawian immigrant worker, and South African guitarist nicknamed "Just Now" Phiri. He was a founding member of the Cannibals in the 1970s. When the Cannibals disbanded Ray founded Stimela, with whom he conceived gold and platinum-selling albums like Fire, Passion and , Look, Listen and Decide (1986). He collaborated with Paul Simon and Ladysmith Black Mambazo on Simon's Graceland (1986) album.

Career Ray Phiri was born near Nelspruit in the then Eastern Transvaal, now Mpumalanga Province, in South Africa. In 1985, Paul Simon asked Ray along with Ladysmith Black Mambazo and other South African musicians to join his Graceland (1986) project, which was successful and also helped the South African musicians to make names for themselves abroad.

Phiri was to collaborate with Simon again on Simon's Rhythm of the Saints (1990), which saw him perform in over 30 nations during 1990 and 1991, including in Paul Simon's Concert in the Park (1991) and at New York's Madison Square Garden, as well as appearing on Saturday Night Live and other top television shows in the United States. The tour concluded in early 1992 with concerts staged in South Africa at venues in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Durban.

In a 2011 interview with The Sunday Times Phiri said that there was "bad blood" between him and Simon.

Discography With Mpharanyana and the Cannibals 1976: Zion Soul 1977: Disco Bump 1978: Nka Nako Ho Motseba 1979: Ulunywa Izinja

With The Cannibals 1979: Get Funky 1980: Total Rejection 1981: I'm Tired of the Past 1981: Put Your Dancing Shoes On

With Stimela 1982: Mama Wami 1982: Stimela 1984: Fire, Passion and Ecstasy 1985: Shadows, Fear and Pain 1986: Look, Listen and Decide 1986: Rewind (released due to popular demand after Look, Listen and Decide) 1987: Unfinished Story 1988: Live! 1989: Trouble in the Land of Plenty 1990: The Second Half (Live) 1991: Siyaya 1994: Don't Ask Why 2003: Steam Tracks ("Best of" compilation) 2010: A Lifetime... 2010: Live in Concert 25 Years

Solo 1992: People Don't Talk, So Let's Talk 1999: How 2000: Chikapa's 11 Years