South African jazz seems to be having another international moment. Recently, for example, the Blue Note jazz label launched a new imprint, Blue Note Africa dedicated to the continent’s music. Its first release – and his second for the label – will be South African pianist Nduduzo Makhathini’s In the Spirit of Ntu. In the same month, Jazz at Lincoln Centre hosted a South African season.
Even the UK’s annual BBC Proms this year will dedicate a night to The South African Songbook, with trumpeter Marcus Wyatt conducting the international Metropole Orkest and the voices of South African vocalist Siyabonga Mthembu and Zimbabwe-born UK singer/songwriter ESKA.
