South African pianist, composer, and producer, Nduduzo Makhathini focuses on the spiritual side of jazz, wedding modern sensibilities with ideas inspired by his Zulu heritage. Following consecutive appearances at the Grahamstown National Arts Festival in 2005 and 2006, Makhathini built a network of global jazz scene contacts. From 2007 onward, he toured Europe and the United States with the Zimology Quartet. His production career took off the following year when he set up of Gundu Entertainment, and began his career as a recording artist by releasing six albums in two years, including Mother Tongue and Listening to the Ground, as well as collaborating live and on record with Wynton Marsalis and Shabaka Hutchings. 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.