The Brotherhood of Great Hearts

The Brotherhood of Great Hearts emerged from a fundamental question: what does it mean to gather in a moment that pulls people apart? This inquiry finds its living reply as Lesedi Ntsane on trumpet, Muhammad Dawjee on tenor sax, Kagiso Ramela on alto sax, Nhlanhla Radebe on double bass, Maxwell Baloyi on piano, and Tumi Mogorosi on drums step into the vacancy left by a fragmented world, transforming the simple act of coming together into a profound statement of unity.

This ensemble exists as a meeting point for distinct intellectual streams, deeply rooted in a Black Consciousness project that envisions an egalitarian society. They function as an institution engaging with the historical archive of South African jazz while actively expanding it. Gathering under the banner of brotherhood, they link the word to a larger history of liberation that transcends gendered utterance to seek a free existence for all, guided by the ideal of the "Great Heart" staying true to truth, love, and the search within the sound.

The act of gathering begins at 17:00 in Rosebank, at CIRCA on Jellicoe, for the opening of the Bag Factory’s fundraising exhibition, When We Gather … the ordinary becomes extraordinary. This initial space stands as an intentional act of honouring, celebrating what has been made, what has been exchanged, and what continues to reverberate within the creative community.

Later that evening, the gathering moves across town to a second location, shifting to Lit.Culture at 29 Chiswick Street in Brixton. When the ensemble takes the stage here at 19:30, the conversation transitions from visual memory into a sonic dimension. Their music asks what is preserved when people gather, what emerges when histories are voiced rather than displayed, and how sound extends what the eye can hold. In Brixton, memory shifts into sound, returning to the idea of music as a physical meeting point between archive and present, memory and invention, showing that the gathering of people and the gathering of histories are ultimately the same sacred act.