MO Big Band plays the South African songbook of jazz

After having paid hommage to American jazz legends Oliver Nelson, Quincy Jones and Thelonious Monk, the big band now broadens its horizons. South African trumpeter and conductor Marcus Wyatt will lead the Metropole Orkest Big Band in playing the best of South African jazz. With music by, among others. Dudu Pukwana, Abdullah Ibrahim, Johnny Dyani, Winston Mankunku, Bheki Mseleku, Hugh Masekela, Jonas Gwangwa and Zim Ngqawana you have a great cross section of the South African jazz scene. Special guest is vocalist Siyabonga Mthembu.

This concert is part of AfroVibes, an annual festival of contemporary theater, dance, music and design from Africa. The festival brings the work of emerging and established current African makers and artists to the Netherlands. AfroVibes shows the dynamic cultural life of urban Africa and connects this with Dutch artists and the public.

Siyabonga Mthembu
Siyabonga Mthembu is the curator of ‘Indaba Is’, a compilation of the Johannesburg avant-garde and jazz collectives released by Giles Petersens Brownswood Recordings in January 2021. He is the lead singer of Shabaka and the Ancestors who released ‘We Are Sent Here by History’ on Impulse Records in March 2020. He is also the lead vocalist for prolific performance art band the Brother Moves On.

Marcus Wyatt
South African trumpet player, composer and bandleader Marcus Wyatt has performed around the globe, and worked with an impressive array of musicians, from Manu Dibango, Abdullah Ibrahim and Miriam Makeba to Maria Schneider, Jon Faddis, Bheki Mseleku, Lionel Loueke and Steve Turre. Wyatt is a South African Music Award (SAMA) winner, and besides his homeland, has appeared on festivals and in venues in over 20 different countries.