Jazz guitarist, Naidoo, comes home to play
DURBAN jazz guitarist Mageshen Naidoo, who this week presents his ensemble in a series of performances and workshops in his home town, is actually a highly qualified jazz musician.
Naidoo, of Chatsworth, has performed in many countries around the world, including the US, England and Scotland, and he has recorded locally and internationally.
Naidoo has a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. He also holds a Master of Music degree (Performance and Jazz Composition) and a Bachelor of Music degree (Jazz Studies) from UKZN.
Apart from being a performer he is also an associate professor and director for jazz studies at the University of Pretoria, and president of the South African Association for Jazz Education.
Naidoo’s ensemble features some of the country’s best jazz musos. The KwaZulu-Natal concerts feature Mike Rossi (saxophone), Neil Gonsalves (piano), Ildo Nanja (bass) and Sidney Rash (drums) with Mageshen Naidoo on guitar.
For his KZN audiences Naidoo has put together a musical collage of original compositions from modern jazz to indo-afro-jazz fusion which recollects the past grooves of mbaqanga and maskandi, fused with jazz harmonies.
Naidoo’s ensemble will perform on Wednesday at the UKZN Centre for Jazz and Popular Music (5.30pm, entrance fee R60). There will be another performance on Thursday at Chico’s Lounge in the Emakhosini Hotel (7.30pm, R150). Naidoo will present free workshops for students on Thursday and Friday.