SA: Dalisu Ndlazi to stage The Inevitable Calling virtual concert

The event is titled The Inevitable Calling and will feature Ndlazi’s full band comprising Zibusiso Makhathini (keys), Thabo Sikhakhane (flugelhorn and trumpet) and Riley Giandhari (drums). Senzo Ngcobo (trombone) and Nosihe (vocals) will join the performance as special guests. The band will perform ‘You're Yes You're’, ‘U Kayise’, ‘Thandekile’, ‘A Kind Heart’ and ‘OLokothwayo’, among other songs.

“It is the vocation that rests on the belief that life is more than just about me,” Ndlazi said when asked about the title of the event. “My music is drawn from memory and feeling of existence and life experiences through my surrounding, family, friends, commuting and society. It speaks more about who I am, my thoughts, belief, loved ones, influences and societal issues we’re facing."

Ndlazi launched his music career in 2011 at the age of 16 and has become a revered jazz bassist in South Africa. In 2012, he was selected as the bass player for the National Schools Big Band at the Standard Bank Youth Jazz Festival in Grahamstown.

While he was a student at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, he played for the UKZN Storytellers as part of an exchange programme with the Virginia Commonwealth University called Jazz Bridge to Greater Understanding. This was not his only international adventure. In 2019 he attended the Louis Armstrong Summer Camp in New Orleans courtesy of the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz youth development programme.

The Inevitable Calling will be available for viewing via the National Arts Festival official website from 3pm. Tickets are available for R20 (about $1.20) here.