Take a musical journey through South African jazz with visionary pianist Nduduzo Makhathini. Under the music direction of JLCO saxophonist Chris Lewis, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis performs the iconic compositions of multi-instrumentalist and composer Bheki Mseleku (1955-2008)—one of the most influential South African musicians of his generation.
Makhathini played an important role in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s 2019 concert, The South African Songbook, celebrating 25 years of South African democracy with a diverse group of top South African musicians—each of whom selected an essential song from the New South African canon- the music of South Africa following the 1994 democratic elections, which was then arranged by a member of the JLCO and performed during the orchestra’s first tour of South Africa that year.
Makhathini is the leading figure of South African Jazz today, and he has the unique note of being the first South African artist to release music under Blue Note Records in the entire history of the label.
On this evening, Makhathini and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis present new music along with fresh arrangements of works by Makhatini and Mseleku, whose music Makhathini once compared to “a sonic pilgrimage from the beautiful and organic landscapes of Durban, to the vibrant energy of London and ultimately toward the inner dimensions of one’s being.”
