african jazzlatest news & developments
Dear, Mom: Mombathise is an ascension song. Simphiwe Dana says it is for her late mother: ‘a song to tell her to go and rest and be at peace.’ Photo: Supplied

Simphiwe Dana sings the room into stillness

Moya is her quiet insistence that excellence, faith and African high art can hold grief without spectacle

  • Eyaaz
6 min read
Moving people: Congolese-born musician Tresor will bring his 10-piece band to the Joy of Jazz festival in Joburg this weekend. Photo: Supplied

‘I Want People to Dance’: Tresor Talks Music, Legacy and Joy of Jazz

Tresor reflects on a decade of award-winning African pop, his groundbreaking collaborations with Drake and Hugh Masekela and the music that inspires him today

  • Eyaaz
6 min read
Blowing them away: Cape Town-born, and educated at UCT and The Juilliard School in New York, this year’s Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Jazz winner, trombonist Siya Charles, will perform at the Joy of Jazz Festival in Joburg later this month. Photo: Mark Wessels and Daniel Song

Musician Siya Charles is breaking brass ceilings

The 2025 Standard Bank Young Artist for Jazz reflects on her beginnings, her inspirations and her vision for South African jazz

  • Eyaaz
8 min read
Talking in tongues: Cape Town musician Lumanyano Mzi will be touring in South Africa after a spell in the US. Photo: Henry Schulz

Lumanyano Mzi: From Cape Town to the world

Cape Town prodigy Lumanyano Mzi returns home to share the musical flair that carried him to global stages

  • Eyaaz
7 min read
In the spirit: Afrofuturism group Sun Xa Experiment, which has been around for a decade, has just released an eponymous second album.

Sun Xa Experiment: Merging ancestral rhythms and afrofuturism in Soweto’s music scene

The avant-garde music transcends boundaries, blending healing sounds and community roots

  • Des Erasmus
8 min read