Themba Mkhize

Themba Mkhize (* 1957 in Durban ) is a South African jazz pianist and singer .

Live and act

Mkhize began taking classical piano lessons from the age of seven and only discovered jazz in high school. After starting out in the local band Dukes Combo , he began performing professionally in 1981; with the band Sakhile he recorded two records. In 1984 he became a member of the band Bayete , of which he was a member for more than ten years. He appeared in the musical Buwa , written by Caiphus Semenya , which toured Africa from Zimbabwe with a prominent cast including Jonas Gwangwa , Hugh Masekela , Dorothy Masuka and Letta Mbulu . In 1994 he toured America and Europe with Masekela and Miriam Makeba as musical director before returning to South Africa to produce Sibongile Khumalo's debut album . He also produced commercial music as well as recordings by Vusi Khumalo and was involved in Masekela's album Hope .

In 1999 he presented his debut album Tales from the South , which was based on the melodies of traditional Isintu chants. His amalgamation of African rhythms with the jazz influences of America he developed on the albums Lost and Found (2001) and Hands On (2004) as "SAfro-Jazz". All of these albums have received South African Music Awards . In 2009 he recorded the album Shosholoza with the SWR Big Band , which portrays classics of South African pop music; The band toured with this program in 2011 and also performed with him at the Bundesgartenschau Heilbronn in 2019 .

His son Afrika Mkhize is also a jazz pianist.

Discographic notes

• Scenes from South Africa (1999-2004, Skip)
• Shosholoza (2009, Skip, with Siya Makuzeni and Hlulani Hlangwane)

Web links

• Web presence ( memento from July 18, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
• Short portrait of the world music magazine
• Portrait of South African Music (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Max Mojapelo Beyond Memory: Recording the history, Moments and Memories of South African Music 2009, p 211
2. ↑ Shosholoza - the sound of South Africa