Nduduzo Makhathini

South African pianist, composer, producer, and healer Nduduzo Makhathini focuses on the spiritual side of jazz, wedding modern sensibilities to ideas and beliefs inspired by his Zulu heritage. Makhathini built a network of global jazz scene contacts on the festival circuit. From 2007 on, he toured with the Zimology Quartet. His production career took off in 2008 when he set up Gundu Entertainment and began releasing his own recordings. He issued six albums in two years, including Mother Tongue and Listening to the Ground. Blue Note signed the pianist in 2018, and Modes of Communication: Letters from the Underworlds followed in 2020. Two years later he released In the Spirit of NTU, the debut release from Blue Note Africa. In 2024, he issued the three-movement suite, uNomkhubulwane, with his trio.