BY ZAMA NTEYI
THE late Linda “Bastard” Gcwensa was remembered as the giant of gospel music. The memorial service was held yesterday at Durban's Ethekwini Community Church. Pastors, worshippers, gospel artists were in attendance.
Gospel artists including Sipho “Big Fish” Makhabane, Thobekile Mkhwanazi, Babo Ngcobo delivered moving renditions to celebrate the late star’s life. Paying tribute, Babo Ngcobo, said: "I'm proud to say I’m where I am because of him.
He didn’t only introduce me to music but actually took me under his wing. He knew me inside and out. I last saw him in November last year." His friend, Mike Cele, described Linda as a “Bastard of note”.“
He lived, wrote and breathed music," Cele said. The founder of the group, Vusi Mvelase, went on: "We built this group from scratch. And it wasn't easy. Today, Avante is a brand that will never die. We then took them to Joburg and approached a well-known producer, Sizwe Zako.”
Chairperson of KZN Gospel artists forum, Mjostana Mbhele, said: “We were hoping to throw a big party for him. We’d told him already. And little did we know.”
Music writer and producer, Percy Ingle, added: "My first interaction with them (Avante) was when I wrote a song for them titled, Emlanjeni. I also produced their album, Qina Mzalwane. As a producer, I learned a lot from Linda. He was a song writer and most people don't know he wrote Vuyo Mokena's big song, Avuleka amazulu.
He even worked with international artists including Quincy Jones," Percy said.
Addressing Avante, he said: “You can’t replace him, but the work must go on. Continue releasing music.”Linda died last Sunday after a long illness. He was a member of Avante from KwaMashu in Durban. Originally, the group had five members and two of them have since passed on. The group then added two more members.
He will be laid to rest tomorrow at Mzumbe near Portshepstone.
