FEYA FAKU QUINTET
Thu Dec 9, 20:00 - Thu Dec 9, 22:00
The Athletic Club & Social
ABOUT
FEYA FAKU QUINTET LIVE AT THE ATHLETIC CLUB & SOCIAL
Featuring
Feya Faku Quintet ( trumpet )
Dane Paris : (Drumkit),
Mark Fransman (piano )
Steven de Souza ( bass )
Sisonke Xonti ( saxophone )
R400 2 Course Dinner & Jazz ( Dinner from 6pm and jazz starts at 8pm)
R150 Jazz Only (Jazz starts at 8pm)
FEYA FAKU BIOGRAPHY
Feya Faku is one of South Africa’s legendary jazz musicians and composers, immensely
respected for his dedication to Jazz as an evolving art form. His music balances an evocative
and delicate sensitivity with his quietly firm confidence, profound human empathy and
spiritual connection and an openness for Jazz to express his vision.
From humble beginnings in New Brighton, Port Elizabeth, Faku was one of the first musicians
to study Jazz at the University of Natal with Darius Brubeck and has gone on to play with
some of the most revered names in the world. In South Africa, he has played with Bheki
Mseleku, Abdullah Ibrahim, Barney Rachabane, Makhaya Ntshoko, Thandie Classen, Duke
Makasi, Pat Matshikiza and Basel Coetzee. He was the youngest member of Winston
‘Mankunku’ Ngozi’s quintet. He “returned” to university in 2012 when he was Artist in
Residence at the opening of the International Jazz School of the University of South Africa.
He has ongoing international partnerships with artists such as Paul van Kemenade in the
Netherlands, American drummer Jeff “Siege” Siegel and Swiss drummer, Dominic Egli. In
2016, he toured SA and Switzerland with Egli’s band Plurism, promoting their latest album
More Fufu! He also toured the USA with Siegel’s Sextet promoting their album, King of
Xhosa. His next project will see Boston-based pianist John Kordalewski arranging some of
Feya’s compositions for a performance and recording by the Makhanda Project, a big band
featuring several of Boston’s leading jazz musicians.
Feya has a long-standing relationship with Switzerland and has spent time there teaching
and performing. He has worked with many Swiss musicians recorded and released the
album le Ngoma with his Swiss Quintet. Feya has worked with international musicians such
as Dave Young, Gustavo Begalli, Larry Ridley, Colin Vallon, Andy Sherrer, Eric van der
Western, Brice Wassy, Malcolm Braff, Samuel Blaser, Frederic Ljungkvist and Paul Hanmer.
He has released a number of his own albums: Hommage, Tacit, The Colours They Bring,
Hope and Honour, and the live recorded Feya Faku & the Spirit Jazz Orchestra.
The Feya Faku Spirit Unit is a project close to Feya’s heart and draws from a small evolving
group of South African artists that have played together in many configurations over the
years. For the Cape Town International Jazz Festival 2018, the Feya Faku Spirit Unit will
feature Bokani Dyer on piano, Shane Cooper on double bass, Keenan Ahrends on guitar and
Ayanda Sikade on drums. The band comes together on a deep level of connection and
understanding, with Feya's compositions taking a very open approach to a "destination
unknown".
Feya has also featured on the following albums:
African Tributes - Darius Brubeck and the Nu Jazz Connection
2Feya Faku – Biography Arte Viva Management
Nov. 2017
Art Gecko - Counterculture
Township One More Time – Abdullah Ibrahim
Cape Town Revisited – Abdullah Ibrahim
Best of Abdullah Ibrahim
Home at last – Bheki Mseleku
We Used To Dance – Andile Yenana
Who Lyk Uit - MCoy Mrubata
Molo Africa - Winston Mankunku Ngozi
Before It’s Too Late - Darius Brubeck
Out of the Shack - SA-Swedish Micro Jazz Encounter
Zvinoshamisa - Paul Van Kemenade Quintet
Mexi Cosy - Paul Van Kemenade Quintet
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