FEYA FAKU QUINTET

ABOUT

FEYA FAKU QUINTET LIVE AT THE ATHLETIC CLUB & SOCIAL

Featuring

Feya Faku Quintet ( trumpet )

Dane Paris : (Drumkit), 

Mark Fransman (piano ) 

Steven de Souza ( bass ) 

Sisonke Xonti ( saxophone )

R400 2 Course Dinner & Jazz ( Dinner from 6pm and jazz starts at 8pm)

R150 Jazz Only (Jazz starts at 8pm)

FEYA FAKU BIOGRAPHY

Feya Faku is one of South Africa’s legendary jazz musicians and composers, immensely

respected for his dedication to Jazz as an evolving art form. His music balances an evocative

and delicate sensitivity with his quietly firm confidence, profound human empathy and

spiritual connection and an openness for Jazz to express his vision.

From humble beginnings in New Brighton, Port Elizabeth, Faku was one of the first musicians

to study Jazz at the University of Natal with Darius Brubeck and has gone on to play with

some of the most revered names in the world. In South Africa, he has played with Bheki

Mseleku, Abdullah Ibrahim, Barney Rachabane, Makhaya Ntshoko, Thandie Classen, Duke

Makasi, Pat Matshikiza and Basel Coetzee. He was the youngest member of Winston

‘Mankunku’ Ngozi’s quintet. He “returned” to university in 2012 when he was Artist in

Residence at the opening of the International Jazz School of the University of South Africa.

He has ongoing international partnerships with artists such as Paul van Kemenade in the

Netherlands, American drummer Jeff “Siege” Siegel and Swiss drummer, Dominic Egli. In

2016, he toured SA and Switzerland with Egli’s band Plurism, promoting their latest album

More Fufu! He also toured the USA with Siegel’s Sextet promoting their album, King of

Xhosa. His next project will see Boston-based pianist John Kordalewski arranging some of

Feya’s compositions for a performance and recording by the Makhanda Project, a big band

featuring several of Boston’s leading jazz musicians.

Feya has a long-standing relationship with Switzerland and has spent time there teaching

and performing. He has worked with many Swiss musicians recorded and released the

album le Ngoma with his Swiss Quintet. Feya has worked with international musicians such

as Dave Young, Gustavo Begalli, Larry Ridley, Colin Vallon, Andy Sherrer, Eric van der

Western, Brice Wassy, Malcolm Braff, Samuel Blaser, Frederic Ljungkvist and Paul Hanmer.

He has released a number of his own albums: Hommage, Tacit, The Colours They Bring,

Hope and Honour, and the live recorded Feya Faku & the Spirit Jazz Orchestra.

The Feya Faku Spirit Unit is a project close to Feya’s heart and draws from a small evolving

group of South African artists that have played together in many configurations over the

years. For the Cape Town International Jazz Festival 2018, the Feya Faku Spirit Unit will

feature Bokani Dyer on piano, Shane Cooper on double bass, Keenan Ahrends on guitar and

Ayanda Sikade on drums. The band comes together on a deep level of connection and

understanding, with Feya's compositions taking a very open approach to a "destination

unknown".

Feya has also featured on the following albums:

African Tributes - Darius Brubeck and the Nu Jazz Connection

2Feya Faku – Biography Arte Viva Management

Nov. 2017

Art Gecko - Counterculture

Township One More Time – Abdullah Ibrahim

Cape Town Revisited – Abdullah Ibrahim

Best of Abdullah Ibrahim

Home at last – Bheki Mseleku

We Used To Dance – Andile Yenana

Who Lyk Uit - MCoy Mrubata

Molo Africa - Winston Mankunku Ngozi

Before It’s Too Late - Darius Brubeck

Out of the Shack - SA-Swedish Micro Jazz Encounter

Zvinoshamisa - Paul Van Kemenade Quintet

Mexi Cosy - Paul Van Kemenade Quintet

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