Hotep Idris Galeta

Who was Hotep Idris Galeta?

Hotep Idris Galeta was a South African jazz pianist and educator. His legal name at birth was Cecil Galeta, but according to local custom he was more commonly known as a child and young man as Cecil Barnard, his father's first name being used instead of a last name.

In his teens he played with some of the best jazz musicians in South Africa; Abdullah Ibrahim and Lami Zokufa introduced him to bebop and hard bop. In 1961 he left South Africa clandestinely, following many other South African performers to the United Kingdom. After a year in the United Kingdom he moved to the United States, where he remained till 1991, when he returned to South Africa following the collapse of apartheid.

In the United States he played and recorded with Herb Alpert, John Handy, Bobby Hutcherson, Elvin Jones, Hugh Masekela, Jackie McLean, Mario Pavone, Joshua Redman, and Archie Shepp. Outside jazz he performed and recorded with David Crosby and the Byrds.