Keenan Ahrends at Hugh's Jazz Club

Keenan Ahrends is a jazz guitarist and composer based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Ahrends started playing the guitar at the age of fifteen and completed his undergraduate degree in jazz performance at the University of Cape Town and the Norwegian Academy of Music in 2009. He received his Honours degree in performance at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in 2019, and in 2024, he completed his Master’s degree through the University of Stellenbosch. This recent research detailed the compositional processes of five contemporary South African jazz musicians and presented an autoethnographic reflection on Ahrends’ own compositional process, fused with the interlocutors’ approaches. During his tertiary studies combined, he studied under the likes of Jon Eberson, Wayne Bosch, Eckhard Baur, Alvin Dyers, and Andrew Lilly. He was awarded a Pro Helvetia artist in residency in 2021 where he spent three months composing, recording and performing in Basel, Switzerland.

Ahrends has toured extensively both within South Africa and internationally. He has performed with prominent musicians such as Jeff ‘Tain’ Watts, Louis Moholo, Feya Faku, Domenic Landolf, Elio Villafranca, Andile Yenana, Carlo Mombelli, Herbie Tsoaeli, Nduduzo Makhathini,SOMI, amongst others. Notable performances have been at the Dizzy’s Club (NYC), Offbeat Jazz Festival (Switzerland), Sesc Jazz festival (Brazil), the Birds Eye Jazz Club (Basel, Switzerland), the Amersfoort Jazz Festival (The Netherlands), the Cape Town international Jazz Festival, Ocus Pocus Festival (Reunion Island), the Joy of Jazz Festival, and the National Youth Jazz Festival. He has also performed in venues and festivals in United States of America, eSwatini, Sweden, Germany, Zanzibar, Norway, Mozambique and Nigeria.

In 2017 Ahrends released his debut album ‘Narrative’ (featuring Romy Brauteseth, Claude Cozens, Sisonke Xonti, Nicholas Williams) to critical acclaim. Ahrends released his sophmore album ‘Perseverance: live at the bird’s eye’ (featuring Romy Brauteseth , Sphelelo Mazibuko, Domenic Landofl, Lukas Thoeni) in 2022. Beyond this, he is a featured sideman on numerous prominent recording projects including those by Carlo Mombelli, Feya Faku, Thandi Ntuli, Bokani Dyer and others. As a composer, he was written extensively for his trio, featuring Romy Brauteseth and Sphelelo Mazibuko but has also written for larger ensembles, such as the Cape Town Ghoema Orchestra (commissions in 2012, 2013, 2014). Ahrends is known for his evocative musical writing, his emotive improvisation and his sensitive musicianship. He remains an important part of the emerging southern African jazz arena and his flagship sound can be heard on numerous albums and in a diverse plethora of projects.

Doors open at 18:00

Show begins at 19:30

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