Going beyond limits with jazz
HEALING POWER: NDUDUZO MAKHATHINI SAYS MUSIC IS THE ANSWER TO SA’S SOCIAL ILLS
Award-winning pianist performs today at International Jazz Extravaganza.
Award-winning jazz pianist Nduduzo Makhathini wants to bring about healing with his music. “I will tap into the unknown and project healing vibrations through sonic tubes,” he says of his performance at the International Jazz Extravaganza, taking place today at Durban’s Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre.
And what exactly does this mean, kind sir?
“South Africa and the rest of the continent is in urgent need of healing. We know of the dire times we find ourselves living in. Where I come in is in the form of healing through music. Just as a traditional healer or sangoma throws bones, I play the piano to ensure healing of vandalised souls.”
In the past few weeks, SA has been subjected to much violence against women. Makhathini reckons that music is a vehicle that can be used to correct the self-destructive course we are headed on.
“I am a cultural activist, healer and improviser. This is particularly important to me as it means I am more than just an entertainer. As an improviser, I can quickly scan what is happening in our society and use jazz to make a positive impact.
“For instance, as part of my set in Durban, I will be performing a project called Ikhambi, which is an isiZulu word for a herbal concoction,” he says.
Besides winning jazz lovers’ hearts globally with soothing sounds from his album, Mother Tongue, Makhathini is also the head of the University of Fort Hare’s music department, so he fully understands the impact the art can have on any given society.
“I use jazz to restore and to ensure that positivity is enjoyed, as it is only when this happens that we will see less of the rampant social ills we are living through. Self-love is one of the traits that we are losing more and more on a daily basis, but this can be undone,” he says.
Sharing the stage with him at the show will be icons of the genre Monty Alexander, Kurt Elling and vocalist Thandi Ntuli, who are fully fledged jazz musicians.
What does he think of the trend for jazz festivals to accommodate other genres as well?
“Before we even go there, we have to state what jazz is.
“Jazz is for the people. African slaves were taken across the Atlantic and they used the music to communicate on the ships.
“Jazz is all about improvisation. If a genre cannot be improvised, then it is not jazz. So, what I am saying is that at a jazz festival, you can get an artist performing jazzy hip-hop, or hip-hop jazz, or hip jazz or jazzy kwaito or soulful and jazzy R&B.
“As long as a genre can be improvised, then it is for the people and it is jazz. Jazz gives freedom and breaks any and all limits.”