Nduduzo Makhathini Presents An Ongoing Rehearsal with Maestro Herbie Tsoaeli

Nduduzo Makhathini Presents: The Ongoing Rehearsal

with Maestro Herbie Tsoaeli – Revisited

Following an extraordinary reception in Cape Town, The Ongoing Rehearsal returns by popular demand for a special Johannesburg edition.

Audiences in Johannesburg had been calling for this performance after its Cape Town presentation, and with Nduduzo Makhathini briefly back in South Africa, the opportunity to revisit this remarkable musical conversation was simply too special to miss.

The Ongoing Rehearsal is an evolving performance series conceived by acclaimed pianist, composer, improvisor and scholar Nduduzo Makhathini. More than a concert, it is a living artistic practice—a space where music is discovered in real time through listening, trust, memory and improvisation. Each edition brings together artists whose musical journeys intersect in meaningful ways, creating performances that can never be repeated in quite the same form.

Over the years, the series has featured some of South Africa's most compelling creative voices, including Thandi Ntuli, Muneyi, Ndabo Zulu, and many others, becoming an important platform for musical dialogue, experimentation and intergenerational exchange within South African jazz and beyond.

For this special edition, Ndududzo Makhathini and Maestro Herbie Tsoaeli, one of the country's most respected bassists and an enduring force in South African jazz. reconnect to re-imagine each others long shared histories and catalogs, Their relationship spans many years of collaboration, performance and shared musical exploration. Together they have shaped and contributed to a body of work rooted deeply in African musical thought while continuing to push the language of contemporary jazz forward.

This performance offers audiences a rare opportunity to witness two generations of master musicians sharing the stage in an intimate duet. It is a conversation between piano and upright bass; between collaborators, friends and thinkers ; between two artists whose work continues to shape the sound and future of South African jazz and overall songbook.

More than revisiting familiar compositions, the evening becomes a celebration of shared histories, mutual respect and the living archive of African jazz. Through improvisation, they honour one another's musical journeys while creating something entirely new in the moment.

Performances of this nature are exceptionally rare. They remind us that jazz is not only a genre, but a living tradition—one that is continually renewed through dialogue, collaboration and collective imagination.

For audiences, this is a unique opportunity to experience two of South Africa's greatest musical minds in an intimate setting, performing together in a way that is spontaneous, deeply personal and impossible to replicate.