Nelson Mandela Bay says goodbye to jazz legend Feya Faku

The Herald

07-07-2025

The Swiss Jazz Exchange Programme's Veit Art said he had worked with Faku for more than 20 years and saw him as a brother.
Faku's career was interrupted in 2019 when he developed Bell's palsy, a sudden weakness in the muscles on half of one's face.
Art organised a residency in Switzerland for Faku.
He provided accommodation for his stay and supported him until he got better.
Art explained how they had come to learn that Faku had died while they were on tour in Basel.
'Feya arrived on Friday morning,' he said.
'We were relaxed, we had pizza, talking about friendships, life, then it was two days of intensive rehearsals.
'On Monday, he did not wake up.
'Right after lunch, I went to check on him.
'That was when we found him on his bed; he had passed away in his sleep.
'It was a surreal moment, as sad as it was, but we found him at his best, happy.'
Acclaimed pianist Andile Yenana, originally from Qonce and a longtime friend of Faku since their days at what is now the Durban University of Technology, described him as not only a gifted musician, but also a thoughtful composer — someone who could write, articulate and explain every note he chose and the role it played within a piece.
The Herald