Results for "Andile Yenana"

Andile Yenana

ANDILE YENANA Music has been the mission of Jazz pianist Andile Yenana's life since he was born in King William's Town in the Eastern Cape in 1968. His father’s house music memories helped inspire his music career. "Already, around nine, my old man had opened my eyes to the world of the arts. Because of that heritage, there's no way I could be older in this genre of jazz." When he began learning piano, it was with a mission. "When I picked up that instrument in Zwelitsha Township, it was to play jazz." Andile did his B. Mus studies under Darius Brubeck at the University of Natal, Durban's pioneering School of Jazz and Popular Music

Aaron Rimbui: Nairobi to New York City

By SETON HAWKINS

Kenya is noted for an extraordinary array of musical offerings yet its jazz scene has historically been quite slim. However, Nairobi-born pianist Aaron Rimbui may change that dynamic. Drawing on the musical traditions of Kenya and East Africa, Rimbui has established a singular and absolutely arresting approach to jazz piano. With several ...

Mandla Mlangeni: Born to Be

By SETON HAWKINS

Mandla Mlangeni has been engaged. The South African trumpeter, composer, and bandleader oversees three groups, notably the Amandla Freedom Ensemble and the Tune Recreation Committee. Additionally, his works are marked by an intense effort to explore and connect with social discourse in the country today. Indeed, from the Tune Recreation Committee's naming nod to South Africa's ...

Destination South Africa (Part 1)

By LUDOVICO GRANVASSU

Over the past three weeks we've focused on Africa's influence on jazz music. We played music by international jazz musicians who were inspired by Africa as well as music by jazz musicians from Mali to Tunisia and from Ethiopia to Zimbabwe. Now what about South African Jazz? Well, we left South Africa for last ...

Nduduzo Makhathini: Jazz Is a Shared Memory

By SETON HAWKINS

It can be overwhelming to keep up with the artistic growth, creative reach, and constant development that marks the career of Nduduzo Makhathini. In the past four years, he has released eight solo albums, all exploring remarkably different territories and demonstrating a ceaselessly probing mind and inventive creative urge. In addition to that, he has emerged ...

Who's Got the Map?

By ANDILE YENANA

Label: Sheer Sound
Released: 2005
Track listing: Pedal Point; Sydney's Etude; Dream Walker; Rwanda; Umunyu; South Central; Mr. Harris; Flat No. 22; Pillar to Post; Sydney's Etude 2.

Andile Yenana: Who's Got the Map?

By AAJ STAFF

South African pianist Andile Yenana first attracted attention as a sideman on Zim Ngqawana's early recordings, where his McCoy Tyner-ish playing served as a perfect complement to Ngqawana's Coltrane-like energy. In 2002 Sheer Sound released his debut, We Used to Dance, which drew upon these themes. But it would be a mistake to categorize Yenana as ...

Andile Yenana: Who's Got the Map?

By SETON HAWKINS

The odd title of pianist Andile Yenana's second album as a leader, as he writes, “depicts the space I am in--call it my voice, expression, interpretation of a reality transformed into compositions." While that's a mouthful, the album succeeds in this respect. A disheartening trend in some South African jazz is a common desire ...

We Used To Dance

By ANDILE YENANA

Label: Sheer Sound
Released: 2002
Track listing: Wicked Whispers; Tembisa - The People; No Lights; The Source; Mhlekazi's Dance (Radio Edit); Oasis; The Finale; Wish You Sunshine; Blues for Nick; We Pray.

Andile Yenana: We Used To Dance

By AAJ STAFF

From its very first notes, pianist Andile Yenana's debut record flows with song. The opener, “Wicked Whispers" (a highly ironic title), introduces all four members of his quartet in a lyrical chorus soaring above gentle swing. Yenana's stated intent with this record is to fuse the sonorities of jazz with the culture and ritual of South ...