Sibusile Xaba

Charismatic guitar savant Sibusile Xaba reframes maskandi and the avant garde into his own humanist  manifesto. 

With a vocal style that is part dreamscaping and part ancestral invocation, Xaba divines as opposed to  plainly singing. Combined with a guitar style that is rooted in expressive picking, Xaba's music shatters the  confines of genre, taking only the fundamentals from mentors such as Madala Kunene and Dr Philip  Tabane and imbuing these with a mythology and improvisational intensity all of his own. 

His debut double album – „Unlearning? & „Open Letter to Adoniah? - was released internationally on 4  August 2017 to critical acclaim. 2017 saw Sibusile promote South African arts and culture and facilitate  cultural exchanges by touring through various countries in Africa, United kingdom and Europe, where he  performed at a number of prestigious music festivals (e.g. Shambala and Jazz ala Villette), music venues  (e.g. Ronnie Scotts) , radio stations (e.g. Worldwide FM & Radio France) as well as facilitate South African  music workshops in numerous schools (e.g Lusaka, Maputo, Accra, Paris, Brussels & Berlin to name a few). 

In 2019 Sibusile collaborated with the legendary French label Komos to release his next record/album titled  'Ngiwu Shwabada'. The album was recorded at the historical 'Studio Pigalle' in Paris July 2019. The record  was international released on the 14 February 2020. 

In 2019 Sibusile Xaba was endorsed by the popular guitar brand (factory) called Kremona. Kremona  Guitars/Factory was deeply touched by Sibusile's music / guitar style of playing they proposed to make him  a costumed guitar giving him the opportunity to play a one of its kind guitar, specifically made for him.  Sibusile Xaba is currently a proud ambassador of Kremona Guitars. 

Sibusile Xaba has also seen growth in his music career working with the legendary group Cold Cut and  together with other local musicians released a phenomenal record called Keleketla. 

Up to date Sibusile Xaba has worked with the prominent record label called Brownswood and has just  recently released a compilation album called Indaba Is which also features Sibusile Xaba as part of the  musicians from South Africa to be part of this great initiative. 

Maskandi, malombo, the desert blues and jazz all figure in Sibusile Xaba's expansive vocabulary, albeit  through a magnetic individual filter.

XABA’S PASSION (inside out the Music); 

Within the past decade Sibusile Xaba has been deeply active in the growing of plants and the learning of  medicinal plants. Over the years he has gathered much information & skills across Africa and the rest of the  globe to a point he started implementing/sharing the many teaching he has received. 

In 2016 Sibusile Xaba launched an initiative called Continental Arts & Culture Exchange Project which saw  activation in South Africa, Swaziland, Mozambique, Botswana, Lesotho, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, Benini & Ghana. This initiate was able to create many plantation fields with in the varies countries were the  

community was (till today) able to feed itself. Also, medicinal plants were (till today) grown which also  served the many people there. 

The passion for planting also saw Sibusile Xaba deeply engaged with the local Schools (Primary Schools in  Zululand, Pretoria & Johannesburg). Here he invited many other likeminded minds and they went to varies  schools to install planting progress and also teaching the little ones about the importance of planting,  knowing medicinal plants & preserving of seeds. 

His work has since received good reviews both nationally and internationally;