The Jazz Standard
The adventure of rich storytelling about the world of Jazz continues with Brenda Sisane on Kaya 959's The Jazz Standard.
Dr. Boitumelo Tlhoaele on The Jazz Standard with Brenda Sisane
For generations of Sowetans, the Jabulani Amphitheatre has been more than a performance venue. Built in 1952, it became a gathering place for music, sport, political debate, worship, mourning and celebration. Jazz musicians and touring international acts shared its stage; political organisations and trade unions used its stands; churches prayed…
Dr. Bev Ditsie on The Jazz Standard with Brenda Sisane
Dr Bev Palesa Ditsie is a South African activist, filmmaker, writer and cultural worker whose work has connected gender, sexuality, race, memory and human rights. They were a founding member of the Gay and Lesbian Organisation of the Witwatersrand, or GLOW, which organised South Africa’s first Pride march in 1990…
Ntombizivumile Qupe on The Jazz Standard with Brenda Sisane
Ntombizivumile “Vumile” Qupe is the Head of Youth and Community Development Manager at Soweto Theatre, where she oversees community arts initiatives and helps shape the theatre’s youth-development vision. She is closely associated with the Soweto Theatre Youth Orchestra, a programme created to provide young musicians from across Soweto with structured…
Gabi Motuba on The Jazz Standard with Brenda Sisane
An educator, composer, vocalist and the 2026 Standard Bank Young Artist for Jazz, Gabi is an artist of intellectual rigor and unwavering devotion. From the mythic inquiries of Tefiti to the meditative release of her latest masterwork, The Sabbath, she moves fluidly between the avant-garde and the intimate.
Dr. Same Mdluli on The Jazz Standard with Brenda Sisane
Dr Same Mdluli is an acclaimed art historian, curator, and writer, and serves as the Manager and Chief Curator of the Standard Bank Gallery and Standard Bank Art Lab. She holds a PhD in Art History from the University of the Witwatersrand and is widely recognised for her contribution to…
Sisonke Xonti on The Jazz Standard with Brenda Sisane
A 2020 Standard Bank Young Artist for Jazz, Sisonke Xonti joins us at the Standard Bank Gallery to reflect on growth, family, brotherhood and his upcoming album uKholo set for release on 1 October 2026 via Voom Voom Records.
Black Pot Trio on The Jazz Standard with Brenda Sisane
Founded in October 2016 by the late drummer Jan Makhubedu, the Black Pot Trio trio was conceived as a space where African rhythms, jazz improvisation, and the communal spirit of celebration could converge. Their name, inspired by the traditional black cast-iron cauldron found at African gatherings, symbolizes unity and shared…
Ofentse Pitse on The Jazz Standard with Brenda Sisane
Ofentse Pitse is a conductor and architect hailing from Pretoria, South Africa. Her musical roots run deep, nurtured by her late mother's love for old-school music and her family's heritage in The Salvation Army church, where her grandfather was a prominent jazz trumpeter and co-founder of the iconic Sophiatown jazz…
Linda Sikhakhane on The Jazz Standard with Brenda Sisane
Linda Sikhakhane is a prodigious saxophonist and composer whose work is deeply rooted in his Zulu heritage and the spiritual traditions of KwaNongoma, meaning “place of the diviner” or “mother of song.” His artistic journey is characterized by a patient evolution, embodying the concept of "the one in waiting" —…
Nubya Garcia on The Jazz Standard with Brenda Sisane
Nubya Garcia is a central figure in the modern British jazz renaissance, a London-born saxophonist, composer, and bandleader whose work is synonymous with the vibrant, genre-blurring UK scene. An alumna of the esteemed Tomorrow’s Warriors program, she has become a global ambassador for a sound that is both deeply rooted…
Dr Nduduzo Makhathini on The Jazz Standard with Brenda Sisane
What does it mean to continuously workshop ideas? Or to finally be at peace with neither arriving nor resolving, and to embrace music as an ever-shifting constellation of extensions of the self and the communities from which we emanate? In this special on-the-fly encounter, we lay our curiosities on the…
Saul Madiope on The Jazz Standard with Brenda Sisane
Saul Madiope, affectionately known as The Digital Jazz Man. Saul is a South African saxophonist, producer, and sound engineer celebrated for fusing traditional African jazz with contemporary digital soundscapes. His work has earned international recognition, including features on Generations and placements on HBO’s In Treatment and Netflix’s Savage Beauty. His…
Marcus Wyatt on The Jazz Standard with Brenda Sisane
Marcus Wyatt, a prolific South African trumpeter, composer, and bandleader, has led various ensembles, and the ZAR Jazz Orchestra is one of his notable projects but today he is here to tell us about, Church of the Rolling Tongue, a new ensemble he has just formed. This project is both…
Andreas Tschopp on The Jazz Standard with Brenda Sisane
For over twenty years, he has been one of Switzerland's busiest and most versatile voices on the trombone. Whether he is performing in the brass-percussion fire of Le Rex, the avant-garde precision of the Vertigo Trombone Quartet, or the celebrated South African-Swiss collective Skyjack, his music has always been about…
Rico Jones on The Jazz Standard with Brenda Sisane
Tenor saxophonist Rico Jones is a musician who found his voice at age thirteen in a Denver gospel band, and that sacred foundation has informed every note since. After earning two degrees from the Manhattan School of Music and being mentored by the likes of Sonny Rollins and George Coleman,…
Thandi Ntuli on The Jazz Standard with Brenda Sisane
When we speak about the defining voices of South African jazz today, the name Thandi Ntuli is central to the conversation. She is an artist who approaches the piano, and her own voice, with a rare combination of fearlessness and generosity. Her work is a bridge where African musical heritage…
Grant Gee on The Jazz Standard with Brenda Sisane
Grant Gee, an acclaimed British director known for his profound and often introspective explorations of art, music, and landscape. His latest work, Everybody Digs Bill Evans, delves into the life of one of jazz's most enigmatic and influential pianists, Bill Evans. What drew a filmmaker of Gee's caliber to the…
Tshepiso Chikapa-Phiri on The Jazz Standard with Brenda Sisane
Tshepiso has played a significant role in international productions filmed in South Africa, serving as South African Production Executive on Universal Studios’ Beast, starring Idris Elba and Sharlto Copley, and on Sony Pictures’ The Woman King, starring Viola Davis and Thuso Mbedu. In 2018, she co-founded Known Associates Entertainment, later…
Bokang Ramatlapeng on The Jazz Standard with Brenda Sisane
Bokang is a vocalist, songwriter, composer, and storyteller whose journey is deeply personal. Having lost her mother young, she was raised by her elder sisters, whose sacrifices became the subject of her most celebrated work. Her 2022 single, "Bana Ba Nthabiseng," won Best Jazz Song at the 7th Mzantsi Jazz…
Kgauhelo Dube on The Jazz Standard with Brenda Sisane
Kgauhelo Dube has spent two decades driving impact across arts, media, and literacy. Through The Artist's Helpdesk — a South Africa-based nonprofit she founded during the 2020 lockdown — she is taking on a systemic overhaul: disrupting cycles of precarity, advocating for fair pay, and centering African women.