At 64, McCoy Mrubata is a commanding presence on the South African jazz scene. A Cape Town native who now resides in Johannesburg along with his wife and four children, Mrubata has won many awards and ...

Duke Ellington rejected it, Charles Mingus was ambivalent about it, and Wynton Marsalis is okay with it. For many African American musicians the word “jazz” is a double-edged term, sometimes ...

Celebrated globally each year on April 30th, International Jazz Day pays tribute to the essence of artistic freedom. In South Africa, this celebration follows closely after the highly successful 2025 ...

The history of jazz in South Africa is inextricably linked to the legacy of the struggle against apartheid. The first wave of jazz musicians who gained renown outside of the nation were forced into ...

The country has a rich, original relationship to jazz, with American techniques layered into regional traditions and rhythms. Explore 50 years of recordings picked by musicians, poets and writers. By ...

Declared by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) during its General Conference 14 years ago, International Jazz Day—celebrated every April 30—honors a genre ...

Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Mother Africa season continued last weekend with two concerts featuring South African contemporary pianist and composer Nduduzo Makhathini performing the music of Bheki ...

South African jazz pianist Abdullah Ibrahim laughs when he remembers a gig he played shortly after he moved to America in 1965. “There was this club in New York and I suggested that I bring my trio,” ...

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Black artists shaped the sound of American music, and the world took notice, often without giving credit.

From traditional jazz trios to global sounds and fusion acts, the festival celebrates the freedom that lies at jazz’s heart.