Jack Lerole

Aaron "Big Voice" Jack Lerole (c. 1940 - 12 March 2003) was a South African penny whistle player and singer, a leading performer in the kwela style of music in the 1950s, and best remembered in the UK as the leader of Elias and His Zig Zag Jive Flutes, who had an international hit in 1958 with "Tom Hark". Lerole was also notable in later years for his association with the Dave Matthews Band.

Lerole grew up in the Alexandra township near Johannesburg, and in his early teens performed on the whistle as a street musician with his brother Elias Lerole. They were joined by David Ramosa and Zeph Nkabinde, and to counter gang attacks carried tomahawks with them when they played. Unlike earlier kwela groups, they added guitar and vocal harmonies to the penny whistle sound. The group went under various names, including the Alex Shamba Boys, Alexandra Black Mambazo, and Elias and His Zig Zag Jive Flutes. (A 'jive flute' being a penny whistle.)

In 1956, they were signed by EMI South Africa's 'black music' producer Rupert Bopape, and recorded a number of tunes including "Tom Hark" - either a mishearing of "Tomahawk", or a play on words by the record label. The tune (which some think was based on a 1927 melody by Herbert Farjeon for I've danced with a man, who's danced with a girl, who's danced with the Prince of Wales but the melody is significantly different) was picked up in the UK and used as the theme music for a TV show, The Killing Stones. It was released as a single, and rose to number 2 in the UK Singles Chart in April 1958, eventually selling an estimated three million copies worldwide. It was subsequently covered by various artists including Millie Small in 1964, Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames (also 1964), and The Piranhas in 1980. Much later, in 2009, Lerole's version of the tune was used for the opening credits to Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle. The song is also a popular fanfare for English football clubs.

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