Bokani Dyer – Jazz Pianist as well as Composer of our Moments


Bokani dyer is a Motswana-born, acclaimed pianist who has gained the SAMRO Overseas Scholarship and opened the London Jazz music Festival. He is additionally the innovator of a triad with bassist Romy Brauteseth as well as drummer Sphelelo Mazibuko.

Dyer’s music is a rich mix of influences and suggestions. It merges elements of a variety of styles without ever coming to be eclectic or disorderly.

His Lifestyle
Bokani Dyer is an award-winning pianist and composer that fuses standard African rhythms along with jazz. His make-ups are actually identified by intricate harmonies and also stirring melodies which have actually astounded viewers around the globe. He has actually done with international greats like Shabaka Hutchings as well as Jason Moran and also neighborhood stalwarts such as Feya Faku, Shane Cooper, Sisonke Xonti and also Friend Wells. Bokani dyer

Birthed in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, Dyer increased up listening to the likes of Pat Metheny, Khadja Nin as well as Oliver Mtukudzi, whose songs was played in his loved ones home. As he aged, he joined the radical multi-disciplinary arts aggregate Medu in Botswana where he executed and also created films, presented gigs, placed art exhibitions as well as carried out innovative sessions.

Adhering To Medu, Dyer moved to Johannesburg where he got an undergraduate’s degree in songs coming from the College of Cape City. In the course of his opportunity at the tertiary establishment, he created surviving relationships along with a host of performers who are actually right now partners along with him in one type or yet another consisting of bassist Shane Cooper and also singer Sakhile Moleshe.

After finishing his research studies, he released his first self-released album in 2010, complied with by Emancipate The Story in 2011. In 2015, he videotaped World Popular music with a quintet featuring top South African entertainers including tone saxophonist Feya Faku, pianist/composer Jonathan Jephta, drummer Pal Wells and bassist Shane Cooper. His trio cd Neo Native was released in 2019 and acquired a SAMA election for best jazz album. He likewise discharged Kelenosi, an entirely solo cd generated under pandemic health conditions in 2020.

His Songs
The Motswana-South Black pianist as well as author Bokani dyer is actually a power to become considered in jazz music. Technically experienced past his years, he is actually also imaginative and innovative in a variety of jazz styles. His music draws coming from a vast assortment of influences and also is actually embeded in custom while taking advantage of modern suggestions and probabilities.

The proclaimed multi-hyphenate’s newest launch is a comprehensive album called Globe Songs, his 1st for the renowned Gilles Peterson trace on Brownswood Records. The record observes up student standout Liberate the Story, as well as improves it, mixing a set of wide impacts to generate an anti-genre record with a distinctive identity of its very own.

With the album, he brings together skilled superstars like drummer Hassan Khan as well as saxophonists Linda Sikhakhane, John Swanson and also Robin Fassie-Kock, as well as younger blood streams such as trumpeter Sthembiso Bhengu and also bassist Tendai Shoko. The result is actually a hypnotic combination of thought and feelings and also stirring instrumentation.

In 2014, he was chosen for a Pro Helvetia funded musician residency in Switzerland where he complied with artists Donat Fisch, Stephan Kurmann and also Norbert Pfammatter who joined him to create the Bokani Dyer Swiss Quintet. The set happened to participate in at the opening of the Greater london Jazz music Festivity and visited South Africa with packed display in Master William’s Community, Johannesburg as well as Maputo.

His Albums
For Bokani Dyer, a pianist and composer, the music is actually at the center of his world. He makes jazz popular music along with elements of electronic, R&B, Afro-Latin as well as elegant. His design is actually at when imaginative and stylish, as positive as it pries.

He has actually launched five cds – his launching, Mirrors, in 2010, adhered to by Emancipate the Account in 2013, Oscillations in 2014 as well as 2015’s Planet Music (which was actually nominated for absolute best jazz music cd at the South Black Popular Music Awards), and a trio recording, Neo Native, which gained the honor in 2019.

The brand new document, Broadcast Sechaba, was actually provided on digital, CD and also 12″ vinyl layouts on the 12th of May 2023 through Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood Recordings tag. The album pays attention to nation-building as well as unity– styles that join his heart, offered his roots in a Botswanan community in exile coming from racism.

The 14-track offering features religious reflective moments, uplifting energised canals as well as an innovative mix of music types– emotional secrets as well as vocals, jazz-funk and Afrobeat collision, punchy horns and additional. Along with his personal playing, he employed an all-star cast for the treatments, featuring trumpeter Sthembiso Bhengu, saxophonists Linda Sikhakhane and Steve Dyer, guitar players Alder du Toit as well as Keenan Ahrends, bassist Tendai Shoko and also drummer Tinotenda Dambaneunga. Pair of development singles coming from the album – Vibration of Fact with its West African gouge as well as appeal to follow your fact, as well as Carry on along with its contact us to cool down and also take a breath– specified the tone for this outstanding document.

His Tours
Bokani Dyer is among South Africa’s the majority of acclaimed jazz music pianists, and also he regularly travels internationally. His band features a range of worldwide as well as SA entertainers, featuring bassist Shane Cooper, saxophonist Sisonke Xonti as well as singer Sakhile Moleshe. Having invested his early years in Botswana, where he satisfied a variety of his current collaborators, it’s not a surprise that his popular music pulls creativity coming from a wealthy and diverse heritage.

After earning a degree from UCT, he participated in forces with drummer Sphelelo Mazibuko to form a triad which debuted at the 2016 SA National Arts Festival. The band additionally toured Switzerland in 2015, playing crammed programs in Basel, Zurich, Bern as well as Wintethur.

In the exact same year, he was picked to execute at the reputable Jazzahead display in Bremen and took place to create saxophonist Sisonke’s launching album, Iyonde. He is actually also the developer of a regular slot at The Orbit Jazz Music Nightclub in Johannesburg, the Jazzafrika Legacy Sessions, which commemorates the work of recognized as well as developing SA jazz composers.

The band is an impressive force to be actually believed with on stage and the interaction between them is remarkable. It is actually to Bokani’s credit rating that he may work with the ensemble therefore well, but also offer space for private members to radiate, as is actually the instance when he opens his collection with the ballad Vuvuzela or on the challenging bop song Trick Keep in minds.


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