Jazz Articles about Zim Ngqawana

Zim Ngqawana: Sound, Song, and Humanity

by AAJ Staff
May 12, 2011

(Ed. note: we're celebrating the life and music of Zim Ngqawana by reprinting this 2002 interview. Ngqawana passed away in Johannesburg, after suffering a stroke on May 10th. He was 52.) For Zim Ngqawana, citizenship is a relative concept. He may be a South African, but he insists that he is first and foremost a citizen of humanity. The 42 year old saxophonist and composer makes a distinctive kind of music which draws heavily from the jazz tradition--yet ...

Zimology Quartet: Live at Bird's Eye

by AAJ Italy Staff
January 30, 2008

Il jazz in Sudafrica non s'è estinto con la diaspora che coinvolse nei primi anni sessanta Dollar Brand, Harry Miller, Dudu Pukwana, Louis Moholo e altri. Da almeno un decennio uno degli esponenti di punta è il sassofonista Zim Ngqawana che è anche leader dello Zimology Quartet, ora comprendente i connazionali Nduduzo Makhathini al pianoforte, Herbie Tsoaeli al contrabbasso e Ayanda Sikade alla batteria. La formazione non è nuova e nel corso degli anni ha ospitato altri nomi di rilievo ...

Gwen Ansell: Soweto Blues

by Seton Hawkins
January 15, 2006

Gwen Ansell Soweto Blues Continuum ISBN 0826416624 350 pages 2004 Gwen Ansell's Soweto Blues is the book South African jazz lovers have been praying for. Originally conceived as a radio show entitled “Ubuyile, the book is the result of over 80 hours of interviews with multiple generations of South African jazz artists; from earlier pioneers of the style to the new artists; from the exiled musicians to ...

Zim Ngqawana: Vadzimu

by AAJ Staff
July 25, 2003

Zim Ngqawana has a penchant for naming records after himself. The South African saxophonist followed up his first record, 1998's Zimology, with Zimphonic Suites in 2001. Nothing wrong with a little creative word play, for sure, especially from a man who honestly has little interest in self-promotion or glory. He seems to be using these titles to formally integrate himself into the music. Maybe they sell records too... who knows. Who cares.

Now Vadzimu takes the same idea ...

Zim Ngqawana: Zimphonic Suites

by Javier AQ Ortiz
April 12, 2002

At 20 years of age, Zimasile Ngqawana, did not know how to play a flute, a saxophone or a piano. At 42, he is a well-rounded multi-instrumentalist with plenty of upper crust jazz education and exposure to renowned characters such as Max Roach, Wynton Marsalis, and Abdullah Ibrahim, as well as transcontinental tours. After a few previous successful albums, he is now a prominent and promising jazzist offering Zimphonic Suites to the public while reaping various accolades for this impressive ...

Zim Ngqawana: Zimphonic Suites

by AAJ Staff
December 1, 2001

You can take the jazz out of Africa, but you can't take the Africa out of the jazz. From the opening notes, South African saxophonist/flutist Zim Ngqawana's third disc as a leader coveys a sense of revelation and discovery. Zimphonic Suites organizes itself around five musical capsules, each with its own specific flavor and color. The first suite, “Ingoma Ya Kwantu," aims for a sense of “inner attainment," bridging tribal debts to imperial court music with a Coltrane-like devotional pursuit. ...