Nduduzo Makhathini

Nduduzo Makhathini will play a solo piano concert on Tuesday, October 29 at 7:30 PM in a Woods Hole livingroom. Ticket holders will be informed of the concert's location and other important information by email about 24h before the concert.

Nduduzo Makhathini focuses on the spiritual side of jazz, fusing modern sensibilities with inspirations of his Zulu heritage. Born to a piano playing mother and a guitar playing father, he found further inspiration in the music of the several churches in his South African neighborhood. He broadened his appreciation when his South African mentor, Bheki Mseleku, introduced him to John Coltrane and his pianist, McCoy Tyner. Nduduzo says, “I came to understand my voice as a pianist through John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme."

One biographer said that Nduduzo found, ". . . deep inspiration in the fact that the African warrior code valued music for healing and motivational purposes. Here began a love of philosophy that went on to permeate his later job as a teacher, a vocation which ultimately ran concurrently with his music career."

Nduduzo earned a Ph.D. in Jazz Piano from the University of Stellenbosch in 2023.

I first met Doctor Makhathini on his first USA tour with Hamilton de Holanda. They had been collaborating remotely during the pandemic, and when they finally met, the music exploded from their fingers. They played The Keystoke Korner in Baltimore, the Kennedy Center, the Rose Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center, and then they performed a spectacular concert in a Woods Hole living room. They inspired me to follow them to Amsterdam and Brussels to hear them play again and again.

Now Nduduzo is coming back to Woods Hole for a solo concert. Jazz at Lincoln Center historian Seton Hawkins says Nduduzo is, "a truly singular pianist, an astonishingly gifted composer, and a deeply nuanced thinker on the music...one of the [South Africa]'s most remarkable talents."

Nduduzo says, “I will remind my music fans many things about my music during my performances and all of it is that I'll be using my music to convey what I’m feeling in my heart . . . I can’t wait to share my feelings, my thoughts to my fans using my music during the concert. I’m excited to share some music and thoughts with them." I, too, am excited to see what Nduduzo has up his remarkably clothed sleeves.