Nduduzo Makhatini’s life in music has been a colourful ride
|||Nduduzo Makhathini speaks to Munya Vomo about the intricacies of his music-making process…
The world of jazz is always shrouded in mystery and sophistication. It is almost an exclusive club that seems to attract people with a particular understanding of the music. For instance, it is not the place to sing along or clap your hands to a live act.
Instead, jazz lovers seem to get lost in the music as they silently digest it. Dignified applause will only be heard at the end of the performance. Generally, jazz is not welcoming to the novice, because of its bourgeois aura.
This is why it is refreshing to chat to Nduduzo Makhathini, one of South Africa’s rising stars in jazz music. With his casual approach to life, you do not get the sense that he is one of the country’s top jazz musos, at only 33. His success, however, is something that was instilled in him from birth as both of his parents were musicians.
“I grew up with a mother who played the keyboard and a father who was a guitarist. In fact, when I went to study music at the UKZN, I wanted to further my knowledge of the guitar, but the instructors thought I was too late and had a better chance at the piano because I knew a few chords, thanks to my mother,” said the laid-back musician.
What university life did was confirm a destiny that had been carved out for Makhathini several years before.
“The reason I play the piano today is for healing as a sangoma. When I was about 13, I had a dream about my ancestors giving me healing gifts. The only problem was I was raised in a Christian family so my mother dismissed those dreams as demonic. Luckily, I was visiting my grandmother shortly thereafter and I told her about my dream and described the people I saw. She told me that they were our departed elders and confirmed that I was supposed to be a sangoma. She took me to a sangoma who confirmed what my grandmother had said,” he explained.
“Later on when I was trying to figure out why I play the piano, I realised that sangomas use bones in their operations and I deal with the ivories on the piano. Ivory is bone matter from elephants so when I am playing I am doing it for healing as a sangoma. Sometimes when I improvise I do not know what I am doing, I just feel like something is playing through me and I am just guided,” he added.
You might not understand what this all means, but judging by how well Makhathini has done, it all paid off. Yet the 2015 Standard Bank Young Artist for Jazz and recent Metro FM Music Awards nominee feels he hasn’t scratched the surface yet.
“I don’t think I am technically ready to play the piano. That is something that will take a lifetime to achieve. I also believe in reincarnation so maybe I will be ready in another life. As far as my narratives go though, I felt ready when I released my first record. I called it Sketches of Tomorrow based on me being a father of three. I don’t remember saying ‘I am ready to have a family’, but it has happened and I pondered on what kind of legacy I would leave behind for my kids,” he explained.
Mother Tongue, his sophomore album, was a tribute to his mother. “I was thanking her for giving me music as a first language. My grandmother says I took a while to start speaking as a kid. So whenever I wanted to learn something my mother would improvise a melody and that way I would sing along.”
Two albums came out last year, Listening to the Ground which was in honour of his ancestors, and Matunda Ya Kwanza Vol.1, which is a celebration of the first fruits.
“In December I dreamt of mam’ Busi Mhlongo, she comes into my dreams a lot, and she was singing and dancing with the ancestors and I felt they were highlighting that they wanted us to celebrate the season of the first fruits. So I will be doing that kind of album every year,” he said.
With the Cape Town International Jazz Festival only a few days away, Makhathini is excited to be one part of the showcase.
“I have played there with bra’ Zim Ngqawana and Feya Faku who are both important composers for me. So for me to go and represent my own songbook is a big thing. I will play material from Listening to the Ground and will be featuring my beautiful wife, Omagugu. I will also have Eddie Parker, a flautist, from London,” said the piano sangoma.