Tutu Puoane returns home to celebrate Lebo Mashile's poetry through jazz

The Star

2 days ago

Renowned jazz vocalist and Pretoria native Tutu Puoane is set to grace stages across South Africa with her much-anticipated tour, showcasing her current project, Wrapped In Rhythm .
Puoane reveals that this award-winning double album is a heartfelt homage to the evocative poetry of South African poet and activist Lebo Mashile, featuring a unique blend of jazz, soul, and singer-songwriting that resonates with audiences both locally and internationally.
Since relocating to Antwerp, Belgium, in 2005, Puoane explains that she has found herself profoundly inspired by Mashile's anthology, In A Ribbon Of Rhythm .
For nearly a decade, the book accompanied her, stirring emotions that encapsulated her experiences as a young Black African woman navigating her identity amidst the complexities of living away from her homeland.
'Ten years ago, this book had me in a chokehold. I often find things about my country so difficult to express; it all feels so strange after being gone from home for so long, and yet I still hold a very deep connection to the land and people. The poems of Lebo helped me feel and express things I couldn't express myself.'
This tour will also see Puoane performing two larger concerts in Gauteng with her full band, featuring Ewout Pierreux on piano, Shane Cooper on bass, and Sphelelo Mazibuko on drums. Following these performances, she will partner with Pierreux for intimate duo concerts in Durban, Cape Town, and Gqeberha, aiming to draw audiences close to the essence of her music and Mashile's powerful words.
The full orchestral Volume 2 of Wrapped In Rhythm featuring the renowned Metropole Orkest is scheduled for global release on September 19, but concertgoers will have the distinct advantage of purchasing limited physical copies of the album on CD and vinyl at the shows.
Puoane invites her audiences to experience the concert not just as a performance, but as a shared moment of connection and reflection.
'For this upcoming SA tour, I really want people to come, sit down, turn their cell phones on silent, and really drink in these words and this music. I will, of course, play some of their old-time favourites, but this is a chance for my South African audience to experience/remember the magic of Lebo Mashile's powerful 'In A Ribbon Of Rhythm.'
Her excitement to return to South Africa is palpable as she expresses her love for performing in front of those who understand her cultural nuances.
'The South African audience, MY audience, is by far the best audience in the world. There's nothing like singing Sepedi to people that truly comprehend every word you're saying. It uplifts a part of my soul I don't get to feel often when I perform for an EU audience. I really would love to come home often to sing, not only once a month at a huge festival. I love singing in smaller intimate gatherings as well, so I'm really hoping that people will come out and support these few dates I have lined up.'
Lebo Mashile further echoes the sentiments of their connection, recalling how Tutu's interpretation of her poetry felt like the merging of timelines during the isolation of the pandemic.'
'When Tutu started sharing her experiments online during the pandemic, and when I first heard what she and Ewout were doing in their home studio, it felt like multiple timelines were collapsing and converging at once. Across continents, in the isolation of lockdown, on social media, I felt intimately connected to Tutu's imagination of these poems and seen and affirmed in a way that no artist has ever made me feel before.'
Puoane's South African tour dates are set to be Aug 1 - Market Theatre, Johannesburg; Aug 2 - State Theatre, Pretoria; Aug 6 - UKZN Jazz Centre, Durban; Aug 8 - Youngblood Gallery, Cape Town; Aug 10 - Guga S'thebe, Cape Town; and Aug 15 - The One Room, Gqeberha.
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Saturday Star