Xonti ready to serenade fans at Cape Town jazz festival
LAWYER TURNED MUSICIAN SISONKE Xonti will serenade jazz lovers with sounds from his debut album, Iyonde at the Cape Town International Jazz Festival next weekend.
Iyonde (Xonti’s middle name), which means to be enjoyed, who has appeared countless times as a supporting act at the festival, released the 10-track album early last year.
He said jazz lovers could expect “music that anyone and everyone can relate to, whether you’re a jazz listener or not”.
He said the chance to play his own music at the festival meant he had the “opportunity to play on a big stage for people who otherwise would have not been exposed to me or my music”.
“It also gives me the opportunity to grow my fan base,” he said. Although Iyonde has been out since last year, Xonti said the album was doing well considering he was an independent artist.
Having played with jazz musicians such as Benjamin Jephta, and seeing one of his heroes Mccoy Tyner performing on the Rosie’s stage, Xonti believes he is ready to “serenade music lovers on the Rosie’s stage evening”.
Xonti fell in love with jazz at the age of 13, inspired by the late Ezra Ngcukana.
Although the pair had not met, Xonti made it his personal mission to find Ngcukana.
He joined the Cape Townbased jazz band, The Little Giants led by Ngcukana and George Werner.
He was then chosen to be part of the Schools’ Big Band competition at the Standard next Saturday Bank National Youth Jazz Festival in Grahamstown.
But it was after meeting musician Jimmy Dludlu that Xonti’s career began to soar. Dludlu took him under his wing, and the pair performed in China, Mozambique,
Angola, Reunion, and Switzerland, among others.asanda. sokanyile@ inl.co.za