- Jazz musician Mandisi Dyantyis knew from high school he would pursue music academically.
- His career highlights include having supporters connect with his deeply personal songs.
- He will be performing at the Cape Town International Jazz Festival for the first time as a headliner in May 2024.
- Mandisi’s music feeds off of the experiences and struggles of people as well as his spirituality.
The world of Afro-soul and jazz hasn’t been the same since award-winning musician Mandisi Dyantyis stepped onto the stage.
His powerful voice and undeniable musical talent make his live performances with his 18-piece band make him the ultimate choice for the upcoming Cape Town International Jazz Festival in May 2024. He has also written music for critically acclaimed projects like the Siya Kholisi Rise documentary, adding to his impressive portfolio.
Before getting on that world-renowned stage, TRUELOVE had to find out where all that passion and creativity Mandisi exudes in his art comes from.
The birth of a music maestro
In true artistic form, he himself is unable to pinpoint the exact spark for his love of musical performance.
“I’m not quite sure but I’ve always studied music and I’ve always been in musical situations whether it was choir, whether it was a band or it was orchestra, whether it was a cultural group. I’ve always been involved in that and they were just fun things. They were fun things to do and I think towards my beginning of high school, it’s when things started shaping up and thinking, 'Ah cool, I like this and this is what actually brings me joy',” he explains.
Mandisi’s high school years were where he got into the nitty gritty of musicality and when he decided he would study music academically. This led the 40-year-old to complete his master’s degree in music from the University of Cape Town in 2024.
Interestingly, Mandisi shares how his parents and the elders in his family always thought of him to be a lawyer and weren’t fully onboard with his passion to study music.
“Of course parents, of course people, don’t really love that [or] don’t really think it’s a thing that can be done but with me, I had to bargain,” he reveals.
Such bargaining brought to South Africa one of the most recognised jazz musicians of the decade, especially after the release of his acclaimed debut album Somandla.
READ MORE | Bongeziwe Mabandla talks AmaXesha tour and future music – ‘This album showcases my growth'
A bona fide jazz star
Selling out and performing on stages like the Grahamstown Jazz Festival and being the only South African artist chosen to perform on the April 2021 International Jazz Day for millions of fans sure makes Mandisi a star in his own right.
He still finds it surreal when people recognise his music that is so personal to him or stop him for photos. He finds this as one of his career highlights.
Sharing how he’s been handling the fame, Mandisi says, “Whenever I reflect … I always go back to the part that people are listening to my music and people gravitate towards the music and people have found their own meanings in the music, which is somewhat bigger than I would have thought.
“And, for me, that is a highlight. When I walk around or when I visit new cities – I was in Kimberley just last weekend and there are people singing along and I go, ‘Where do you know me from, where do you know my music from?’ And ,for me, I can never get over that, I really can’t get over that. It continues to grow and I’m so grateful.”
The stage of a lifetime
Through all his monumental achievements in the local and international jazz scene, Mandisi will be headed to the main stage of the Cape Town International Jazz Festival for the first time as a headliner and solo performer.
“Cape Town Jazz is going to be epic,” he excitedly shares. With the preparations with his band underway, Mandisi sees this opportunity as a dream come true after only being able to perform on the acclaimed stage before faceless in a few bands.
“Cape Town Jazz is just the one that you grow up really wanting, especially because we studied in Cape Town when it was [the] first time. It was just a happy time and to see the artists’ billboards everywhere and we’d sit and go, ‘One day, one day’.
“And we’d go to the workshops, we’d go to the free concerts and free markets because that’s all we could afford, and we’d hang around outside hoping someone would give us tickets to go in. Some years we’d be lucky, some years we wouldn’t be lucky but it’s that one, that one that you thought, ‘I want to be part of this thing.”
READ MORE | Zoë Modiga and more to grace the Cape Town International Jazz Festival
Feeding his spirit through music
Mandisi has unashamedly fed his soul with his past experiences and the Christian beliefs he holds, where he shares he still attends church services “all the time, whenever I can”.
Ndinga ngakhe ndisithele kwiMpazamo Zonke ???? #RosebankMethodistChurch pic.twitter.com/XB3mZ72ALU
— Ms Ngqulana (@Mandyngqu) March 18, 2024
Speaking on whether his spirituality influences his music, Mandisi explains, “I write from me. I write from inside, I write from the things that impact me. I don’t necessarily think that I’m the most spiritual person, I just think I’m a person who acknowledges that I am what I am because of God’s grace and so I live that truth.
“I try and live that truth and I fall down and get up every day. So, I write from that, I write from a place of acknowledging the suffering that we get, I write from a place of acknowledging the joy in the midst of that because I believe that people need to be seen and they need people to acknowledge them and their struggles.”
