UKZN Jazz Lecturer Set to Perform in Cape Town

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UKZN Jazz lecturer Mr Sibusiso Mash Mashiloane will be performing at two cosmopolitan venues around Cape Town; AllianceFrançaise on Friday, 30 April and Jazz in The Native Yards on Sunday 1 May alongside some of the most well-known Cape Town musicians, Shaun Johannes on double bass, Bonolo Nkoane on drums, Nono Nkoane on vocals, and Buddy Wells on saxophone and flute.

Mashiloane who is a multi-award winner is happy to be part of a team that has experience in his exploration of sound such as Johannes and Wells who have a history of playing alongside the likes of Molelekwa, Zim Ngqawana and Winston Mankunku Ngozi.

‘Performing in Cape Town is always very special to me since it’s a city that played a significant role in affording our South African heroes with a platform to perform during the apartheid era,’ said Mashiloane.

While special events will be held around the world to celebrate International Jazz Day, Mashiloane will be honouring the day in the Mother City. He added, ‘Jazz as an art-form, conceived through freedom and identity, is worth celebrating, not just on one day but daily, especially in the context of embracing and exploring our identity and heritage.’

The integral performer of African Jazz music is currently studying towards a PhD which fittingly, uses the lens of South African Jazz to focus on the nostalgia-seeped themes of home that Mashiloane cannot help but find himself instinctively returning to.

His musical exploration through distinctive elements not only evokes happy and positive feelings, but also aims to continue to aspire to music that is steeped in rich, indigenous history and scholarship that does not try to erase the West’s influences in shaping how we see ourselves and our individual and collective relationship with music.

‘I aspire to raise awareness of the value of our works as Africans. I aim to be one of the influences in a new generation of musicians, music collectors and live music audiences who will pride themselves on their African heritage,’ said Mashiloane.

Words: Sinoyolo Mahlasela

Photograph: Simanga Zondo