Zenzele Mthembu-Salter on The Jazz Standard with Brenda Sisane
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At just 24, bassist and composer Zenzele Mthembu-Salter has travelled a musical road that already stretches from Scarborough’s coastal village lessons, to the deep bass traditions of Cameroon, to the improvisational laboratories of Amsterdam.
His debut album, Future Kwela, is a vibrant reimagining of our heritage - taking the joyful whistle-and-groove heartbeat of kwela and opening it up to new harmonies, new textures, and a contemporary language that feels both familiar and boldly preservative. The album expands the tradition through rich improvisation, contemporary jazz textures, and a global sensibility shaped by Zenzele’s journeys from Cape Town to Cameroon to Amsterdam. Fresh, soulful, and forward-leaning, Future Kwela celebrates heritage not as nostalgia, but as a living, evolving force.
His debut album, Future Kwela, is a vibrant reimagining of our heritage - taking the joyful whistle-and-groove heartbeat of kwela and opening it up to new harmonies, new textures, and a contemporary language that feels both familiar and boldly preservative. The album expands the tradition through rich improvisation, contemporary jazz textures, and a global sensibility shaped by Zenzele’s journeys from Cape Town to Cameroon to Amsterdam. Fresh, soulful, and forward-leaning, Future Kwela celebrates heritage not as nostalgia, but as a living, evolving force.
