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Sisonke Xonti

Sisonke Xonti started playing music at the age of ten but it was only when he turned thirteen that he fell in love with the saxophone and continued playing classical saxophone until he got his UNISA Grade 8 Distinction (2006).

His introduction to jazz came at the age of sixteen (2004) when he joined the Cape Town based band, The Little Giants, led by George Werner and the late Ezra Ngcukana. That same year, he was selected to be a part of the School’s Big Band at the Standard Bank National Youth Jazz Festival in Grahamstown. And later (2007) was also selected for the National Youth Band for the first time under the leadership of Dr. Andrew Lilley. He has since played with an array of highly acclaimed musicians, namely Jimmy Dludlu, Victor Ntoni, Lira, Hugh Masekela, Judith Sephuma, Dj Christos, DJ Vinny DA Vinci, Herbie Tsoaeli, Feya Faku, Freshlyground, Neo Muyanga, Bheki Khoza, Barney Wailer from Bob Marley and the Wailers, Mike Campbell and the UCT Big Band, Abdullah Ibrahim and The Cape Town Jazz Orchestra, CODA, Kyle Shepherd, Bokani Dyer, Marcus Wyatt, Goodluck, Lwanda Gogwana, The International Youth Jazz Band, Simphiwe Dana, Andile Yenana and also as band leader in his own jazz project.

He’s worked in studio with many artists on their albums namely Lwanda Gogwana whose album was later nominated for 3 South Africa Music Awards (SAMAs), Jimmy Dludlu, Sisa Sopazi who was also a SAMA nominee, GoodLuck, Freshlyground, Bokani Dyer and one of South Africa’s most well known reggae bands, Azania.

The exposure to these bands gave him a platform to perform at various international Jazz festivals. These include The Cape Town International Jazz Festival, The Standard Bank Joy of Jazz, The Grahamstown Jazz Festival, The Calabar Jazz Festival in Nigeria. He has also performed in China, Mozambique, Angola, Reunion Islands, Switzerland, Dubai and many more countries.

He is a Co-founder of Deluge, an electronic house project with Thandi Ntuli and their album is due for release later this year (2016). In October he will be going into studio to record his debut jazz album be on the look out for that….

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Album Review

Shane Cooper & Mabuta: Finish The Sun

Read "Finish The Sun" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


On Mabuta's debut—Welcome To This World (Afrosynth Records, 2018)—South African bassist, electronic musician and composer Shane Cooper introduced ears to a leading-edge ensemble intent on delivering trippy, dance-friendly designs. Now, with this second album, he doubles down on that core concept, delivering a heap of hip groovers which draw strength from Pan-African influences and ride high in the atmosphere, twirling atop a rotating cast of drummers plucked from points across the eastern hemisphere. Kicking things off with ...

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Interview

Sisonke Xonti: A Leap of Faith

Read "Sisonke Xonti: A Leap of Faith" reviewed by Seton Hawkins


Known for years as an outstanding saxophonist and first-call collaborator in a variety of top South African Jazz ensembles, in recent years Sisonke Xonti has rightly earned acclaimed for his own talents as a bandleader and a composer. Notably, Xonti's 2017 debut release Iyonde not only provided a stellar showcase for his superlative horn work, it also showed his thoroughly compelling voice as a composer and his creativity as an arranger. Recently announced as the Standard ...

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