Bokani dyer is actually a pianist that becomes part of the new age of South African jazz music. He has actually likewise gone far for himself as a vocalist along with an evaluated, lively voice.
Dyer grew up with the music of Tap Metheny, Khadja Nin and Oliver Mtukudzi. He is influenced by modern singer-songwriters like Erykah Badu, Glen Lewis and Nat Master Cole.
Concerning Bokani Dyer
Bokani Dyer, pianist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist, is among a brand-new generation of Cape City jazz music musicians. His popular music is embeded in typical SA jazz music but his influences take him into the bigger planet, causing wealthy as well as immersive popular music that places him among the new age of present-day South African jazz music musicians.
A victor of the Standard Bank Youthful Artist honor in 2011, his profession thus significantly has actually seen him playing in Sweden, Norway and New York City, along with attending on the launching cd through saxophonist Sisonke Xonti. He has actually additionally been actually a regular factor to the Jazzafrika Legacy Procedure at the Pilgrimage jazz club, transcribing as well as executing jobs coming from previous many years.
Dyer’s most up-to-date record, Radio Sechaba, takes a vast technique to the sound of his music, including aspects of home, R&B as well as condiment. It features a somewhat various selection on each track, including tenor saxophonist Linda Sikhakhane, alto saxophonist Mthunzi Mvubu, trumpeter Ndabo Zulu, bassist Benjamin Jephta and drummer Sphelelo Mazibuko. More about the author
The cd opens up along with a bold verse of solo piano self-questioning, which segues right into a proficient melody made use of to introduce the remainder of the band. The first vocal monitor, Ke Nako (‘ Lets develop the country, it is actually opportunity’) features Tomeletso Sereetsi, a voice from Botswana where his father Steve was actually a social activist as portion of the Medu Art Set in expatriation in the course of racism.
Liberate the Tale
As the label of the cd advises, there is a sense of independence as well as liberation in this popular music. It is actually an extensive and deep-seated set that is actually securely rooted in the ground of South Africa, but with a clear sense of reason that prepares it besides much jazz music made by musicians of Dyer’s grow older in this nation. He operates with a well-matched team, along with pros like bassist Shane Cooper as well as saxophonist Colleague Wells playing to originalities together with standout newbies including percussionist Fassie Kock.
It’s an amazingly accomplished document, one that’s been expanding in my affections for a year or additional. The position monitor Homily is actually a droning woes groove, with Bokani’s piano providing a pulsating centre of gravity. The band is actually able to move between vocal-like close harmony and also wide open harmonisation comfortably, incorporating added levels of drama.
In the years because succeeding the Standard Bank Youthful Performer honor, Bokani has actually been actually developing his noise with a constant diet plan of local area functionality and also touring. A Pro Helvetia financed post degree residency in Switzerland in 2014 assisted him to additional create his vision, and the quartet that emerged from it is a potent power to become considered. This cd, backed by a double bassist Romy Brauteseth and also drummer Sphelelo Mazibuko, is his most established work to time.
Planet Music
One of South Africa’s the majority of prodigious computer keyboard skills, Bokani Dyer’s technique to jazz merges aspects of digital popular music along with R&B, Afro-Latin, as well as elegant. His playing is at as soon as imaginative– his use the piano’s mid sign up is actually basically unlike any person else’s– and classy, frequently as affirmative as it pries. After studying along with Jason Moran in New York, he launched his launching Mirrors in 2010, after that succeeded the Specification Bank Youthful Musician Honor and released Emancipate the Account and Oscillations in 2013.
Dyer’s most recent cd, Radio Sechaba, was taped at Workshop 88 in Cape Town. It mirrors a maturity and intensity of idea that suggests his creative experience has actually come cycle. The file is actually a research in thickness. As opposed to the circulation of his sophomore initiative, the tracks on Broadcast Sechaba do stagnate in a singular instructions yet explore a variety of state of minds and emotions. The seek fact is actually a common theme.
While Radio Sechaba is music for ‘jazz’ fans, it has broad charm that ought to get to properly beyond the category. Absolutely, it will possess resonated with the overdue Moses Molelekwa, that– alongside Dyer’s father brown, expert saxophonist Steve Dyer– became part of the extreme multi-disciplinary crafts collective Medu, which worked coming from Gaborone under apartheid. Medu produced movies, organized theatre, placed art exhibitions as well as imaginative shops and advertised Dark consciousness.
Broadcast Sechaba
After gaining recognition for his sextet Liberate the Tale, pianist Bokani Dyer throws a curveball on this set. Including vocals, the stylistic scope ends up being broader as well as a lot more varied– although piano and computer keyboards stay at the primary. He additionally handles spirit as well as singer-songwriter determines while re-examining principles like nation-building and also uniformity.
Videotaped for Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood label, Broadcast Sechaba is Dyer’s very first album to include vocals. It returns the nation-building narratives of his Botswana upbringing, dealing with styles including the demand for presence and personal freedom. He is actually supported through singers like Tomeletso Sereetsi, Linda Sikhakhane and Amaeshi Ikechi on the right track including the reflective ‘Tiya Mowa’ – along with glowing consistencies that suggest a David Crosby impact.
On ‘Ke Nako’ (‘permits create the country, it is actually time’) the carolers is even extra striking – an ask for humanity and a rousing statement of electrical power. It’s supported through a solid set featuring piano, keyboards as well as a sextet of saxophones led by Linda Sikhakhane and also Sthembiso Bhengu plus guitarists Alder du Toit and Shane Cooper.
Balanced and energetic, the record is richer as well as even more expansive than his earlier work – although the sonic palette still features elements of jazz, Afrobeat, globe popular music and contemporary spirit. It is actually a skyrocketing and impressive pay attention that areas Dyer one of South Africa’s most innovative musicians.