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New album: "Inkumbulo" by Feya Faku
The album celebrates two decades of exchanges between jazz musicians from South Africa and Switzerland at the bird's eye jazz club facilitated by the Centre for African Studies.
To maintain friendship for 20 years requires openness, honesty and respect for what each party brings to the relationship. This year marks 20 years of exchanges between South African and Swiss jazz musicians that Veit Arlt organised in cooperation with the bird's eye jazz club and the Swiss Arts Council, Pro Helvetia. My association with the exchange programme goes back to the very first concert organised through the cooperation in 2004, when I was in Bheki Mseleku's Quintet with guitarist Enoch Mthalane, bassist Bongani Sokhela and drummer Lulu Gontsana. Over the last two decades, I and several other South Africans have collaborated with Swiss jazz musicians. The collaboration has been a real creative cross-pollination.
Personally, I have also absorbed a lot musically and socially in the last two decades. I gained immensely from my surroundings. Like many, I lost loved ones and what is dear to me. Musically and socially, the influences occurred consciously and subconsciously. The music in this recording reflects these influences. It honours fellow musicians, alive and departed. It pays tribute to my family and dear friends. The music is about infinite challenges as well as the determination to overcome them. It is about the past, present and future. As I regard myself firstly as a musician and secondly as a trumpeter, I am compelled to tell stories about my surroundings and what our dreams are all about. Hopefully, the music speaks for itself and to you.
INKUMBULO [,n:m.1'ms.;ms] is a celebration of this journey of allyship.
The double album recorded in Basel in January 2024 is available at the Centre for African Studies Basel (contact: veit.arlt@clutterunibas.ch).
