XJAZZ! x Refuge Worldwide present: WORKSHOP BY NDUDUZO MAKHATHINI 'IMPROVISATION, LIFE AND BEING IN THE WORLD'

XJAZZ! FESTIVAL 2024

12.5.2024 @SONNENRAUM

15:00 - 16:00

‘Improvisation, Life and Being in the World’ is a strategy that Makhathini has been building on both as a scholar and a practising artist. Makhathini believes that the introduction of music (jazz and improvisation) in curriculum has produced discontinuities between 'musicking' and ways of knowing–– see: Jazz in Postcolonial South Africa: Tracing the Politics of “Formal” and “Informal” Makhathini (2021). This is more evident in current dealings during post-colonial South Africa where there is insurgence to consider indigenous knowledge systems as locations for theory in higher education. Given this background, Makhathini's workshop explores (and heals) the relationship between being and improvisation in jazz. Through some investigation of Zulu cultural systems, Makhathini explicates how cosmology is a central part of being an improviser.

About Nduduzo Makhathini:

Nduduzo Makhathini is a multi award winning artist, scholar and internationally acclaimed musician from Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu Natal. Makhathini holds a PhD in music from Stellenbosch University and he teaches musicology at the University of KwaZulu Natal.

As a bandleader, Makhathini holds 11 albums under his belt and he features on many as a sideman and producer. He is currently signed to the prestigious Blue Note Records in the US and has a busy tourist schedule that keeps him relevant in current jazz discourses. Makhathinihas collaborated with Wynton Marsalis, Richard Bona, Hamilton de Holanda, Black Coffe, (the late) Zim Ngqawana, Omagugu and Mbuso Khoza just to name a few of his favourite musicians that he has worked with. 

Makhathini has also done reputable festivals around the globe such as Umbria Jazz Fest, Joy of Jazz, Jarasum Jazz Fest, Chicago Jazz Fest , Montreal Jazz Fest and Cape Town International Jazz Fest among others.