NDUDUZO MAKHATHINI

Makhathini's music is a unique fusion of traditional African melodies and modern jazz elements that touches both the soul and the spirit.

Nduduzo Makhathini grew up in the lush and rugged hills of UmGungundlovu, South Africa, a suburban landscape where music and ritual practices were symbiotic. The area is historically significant because it was the site of the Zulu kingdom of Dingane from 1828 to 1840. It is important to note that the Zulu, the code of African warriors, relies deeply on music for motivation and healing. This deeply embedded symbiosis is key to understanding Makhathini's vision.

The church also played a role in Makhathini's understanding of music, as he went from church to church in search of music as a young man. He was also deeply influenced by the legends of South African jazz, particularly Bheki Mseleku, Moses Molelekwa and Abdullah Ibrahim.

Makhathini is also an educator and researcher, and is the head of the music department at Fort Hare University. In 2019, he made his debut at the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York City and at Jazz at Lincoln Center, where he was the featured guest of Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra in a three-night celebration of music, The South African Songbook, at the Rose Theater. He is a member of Shabaka Hutchings' band Shabaka and the Ancestors.

Makhathini has released eight albums of his own since 2014, when he co-founded Gundu Entertainment with his wife and singer Omagugu Makhathini. These albums have won him several awards.

His 2017 album Ikhambi was the first to be released on Universal Music South Africa and won the Best Jazz Album at the 2018 South African Music Awards (SAMA). His debut album on Blue Note, Modes of Communication: Letters from the Underworlds, was named one of the "Best Jazz Albums of 2020" by The New York Times, followed by In the Spirit of Ntu in 2022 and uNomkhubulwane in 2024. The transcendent, three-movement suite - which pays homage to the Zulu goddess uNomkhubulwane and explores Africa's tragic history of oppression - features Makhathini's trio Zwelakhe-Duma Bell le Pere on bass and Francisco Mela on drums.