Nduduzo Makhathini

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Nduduzo Makhathini
Nduduzo Makhathini Quartet 28 october 2021 BIM Amsterdam - Nduduzo Makhathini.jpg
Background information
Birth nameNduduzo Makhathini
Born (1982-09-24) 24 September 1982 (age 42)
Umgungundlovu, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
Genres Jazz
Occupation(s)Composer, pianist, teacher, philosopher
Instrument Piano
Years active2000-present
Labels Blue Note, Universal South Africa, Gundu Entertainment (his own record label)
Website https://www.nduduzomakhathini.com/

Nduduzo Makhathini (born 24 September 1982) is a South African jazz musician from Umgungundlovu, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.

Contents

Coming from a musical family, his love for music began at an early age. [1] Makhathini has performed with Zim Ngqawana, Simphiwe Dana, Feya Faku, and McCoy Mrubata. Nduduzo completed his Diploma in Jazz Piano at the Durban University of Technology in 2005, [2] [3] and obtained a PhD in music from the University of Stellenbosch in 2023. [4] [5]

In April 2020, his studio album Modes of Communication: Letters from the Underworld was released by Blue Note. [6] It was named one of the “Best Jazz Albums of 2020” by The New York Times, and was followed by In the Spirit of Ntu in 2022, and uNomkhubulwane in 2024. [7]

Contribution to Jazz Scholarship and African Epistemologies

Makhathini completed his PhD at the Africa Open Institute for Music, Research and Innovation at Stellenbosch University in 2023 with a dissertation titled Breaking into Sound: Dis/Locating Ntu Cosmology and Improvisation in South African Jazz. His research, an artistic-led inquiry, challenges conventional jazz studies by foregrounding the spiritual and cosmological dimensions of South African jazz, particularly through the concept of ntu cosmology. Makhathini argues that jazz improvisation in South Africa can be understood as a ritualistic engagement with sound that bridges physical and metaphysical realms. His work introduces alternative theoretical frameworks, including the idea of “breaking into sound” as a sonic engagement with the unseen, the bandstand as a communal and ritual space, and divination (the throwing of the bones) as a model for understanding improvisation. The study engages deeply with the work of South African jazz artists such as Philip Tabane, Busi Mhlongo, Bheki Mseleku, and Zim Ngqawana, while also positioning Makhathini’s own practice within these traditions. By merging academic discourse with lived experience as a jazz pianist and sangoma (traditional healer), Makhathini’s research contributes a unique epistemological intervention, expanding the lexicon of jazz scholarship in South Africa. [8]

Awards and honors

Makhathini is the recipient of the 2015 Standard Bank Young Artist Award in the category of Jazz. [9] This is part of the National Arts Festival. [10] At the 2017 All Africa Music Awards, Makhathini won the Best Jazz Artist award. [11] His musical output has led him to be described by Seton Hawkins of All About Jazz to be "a truly singular pianist, an astonishingly gifted composer, and a deeply nuanced thinker on the music...one of the [South Africa]'s most remarkable talents." [12]

Discography

References

  1. "Nduduzo Makhathini: SBYAA for Jazz". The M&G Online. 4 November 2014.
  2. "Nduduzo Makhathini | The Orbit – Jazz Club & Bistro – Johannesburg". Theorbit.co.za. Archived from the original on 11 November 2018. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
  3. "Nduduzo Makhathini". Hermanus Fynarts Festival. Archived from the original on 15 June 2015. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  4. "Nduduzo Makhathini obtains his PhD in Music from Stellenbosch University". 28 March 2023.
  5. "SA jazz master Nduduzo Makhathini adds a PhD to list of accolades".
  6. Neophytou, Nadia. "Interview: South Africa's Nduduzo Makhathini On His Upcoming Blue Note Records Debut - OkayAfrica". OkayAfrica. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  7. Russonello, Giovanni (2 December 2020). "Best Jazz Albums of 2020". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 9 April 2025.
  8. Makhathini, Nduduzo (2023). Breaking into Sound: Dis/Locating Ntu Cosmology and Improvisation in South African Jazz (PhD thesis). Stellenbosch University. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  9. Setumo-Thebe Mohlomi (30 October 2014). "Nduduzo Makhathini finds the gift of healing in song". The M&G Online.
  10. "National Arts Festival". Archived from the original on 29 October 2014. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  11. "The rising star of South African jazz". BBC. 28 June 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  12. "Nduduzo Makhathini: Jazz Is a Shared Memory". All About Jazz . 1 February 2018. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
  13. "Nduduzo Makhathini at Blue Note". Bluenote.com. Retrieved 20 March 2022.