Bongani Sotshononda and the United Nations of Africa have travelled extensively around the world adding different influences to their African Jazz music.
The group received a warm welcome from the crowd during the Woordfees jazz in the Native Yards Concert in Stellenbosch at the Visual Arts Building on Thursday.
The Marimba player and his band have added a wide range of styles to their music ranging from Zimbabwean to Middle Eastern influences. Their open-minded approach to African Jazz music is dynamic and spirited.
“The best way to describe my music is that it’s a journey that I have travelled, hence the different influences ranging from Africa to the Middle East. Wherever I go, I take something and I incorporate it into my music,” said Sotshononda.
The band has refused to categorize themselves as jazz artists and said they do world music instead due to the different influences that they have picked up in their careers.
Bongani Sotshononda and the United Nations of Africa perform at the Jazz in the Native Yards concert. PHOTO: Teboho Mokonyana.
Sotshononda has named Mali, Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe as some of the African influences he and his band have inherited and added to their music.
Fellow band member and synthesiser player, Brynne Bailey, shared a similar view to that of Sotshononda. “What I like about world music is the culture in it and the different sounds. As a keyboard player, I really love exploring sounds and a wide variety of African sounds and elements in the song. I love adding a twist to them.”
The majority of audience members at the show were glued to their seats for the duration of the concert, while some danced enthusiastically.
“The way the group plays – it is a type of jazz I used to listen to in the township and it has a flavour of an African urban style that I have a connection to. It gets me going,” said Zimasa May, from Khayelitsha.
The performance at the Woordfees jazz event was the first for Sotshononda and the United Nations of Africa.
“This is my first time at the festival and I am so happy that they have included jazz music into their package. I was a bit sceptical at first about performing here because I don’t have a big repertoire of Afrikaans music but the organizers encouraged me to do my own thing,” said Sotshononda.
Bongani Sotshononda plays his Marimba during the Woordfees Jazz in the Native Yards concert. PHOTO: Teboho Mokonyana.