Malcom Jiyane unknowingly pays tribute to MaBrrr in iconic year

In the year that Brenda Fassie would’ve turned 60 and 20 years after her passing, jazz artist Malcom Jiyane has unknowingly titled one of his songs after the late icon.

Jiyane pays tribute to Fassie without knowledge of the significance of the year to Fassie’s life on MaBrrrrrrrrr.

“I wasn’t aware of that [Fassie’s posthumous 60^th birthday and death anniversary],” Jiyane told The Citizen, laughing.

Jiyane confirmed that he never met or interacted with Fassie before, but the song is an ode to an artist he loved.

“You don’t really have to know the person. I love her music…I’m connected to her as a South African and as an artist.”

There’s also a song paying homage to Dr Philip Tabane, also named after the late artist who died in 2018.

“Dr Philip Tabane manged to push the music to other bubbles. This is a way of paying homage to him.”

A single from the album, South African Jam, was released in April.

New album

On Monday Jiyane announced that his anticipated sophomore album, True Story, will be released in June and he also shared the album’s cover art and track list.

Like the first album, Jiyane recorded it with his ensemble the Malcolm Jiyane Tree-O.

The album’s artwork is interesting, as it depicts a young Jiyane outside a house.

The photo is similar to a cover from his previous album, Umdali, which has his daughter posing in front of the camera.

Jiyane said he came across the old photo of himself at his grandmother’s house. He said the two covers form a bridge in time and space, but this too wasn’t planned.

“I didn’t plan it; even the first album wasn’t planned. The album is a reflection…it’s me looking at myself. I didn’t know I’d be an artist at that age. The album is that: me looking at my past and all of my life.”

He said the album is not only a self-reflection, but he also reflects on other people’s true stories on the project.

True Story has only seven tracks and he said this isn’t because of a paucity of recorded ditties.

“When dealing with vinyls there’s a number of songs that you need to have. It’s a logistical requirement more than anything,” averred Jiyane.

The success of his debut album has seen him touring European countries such as Denmark, France, Germany and he even performed at Netherland’s North Sea Jazz Festival.

Umdali is a timely collection of soul-endearing music released in 2021.

The music on the album is laden with heavy emotions that can’t be articulated in words. The Guardian gave the album five stars in its review.

One of the most moving songs on the five-track album is Life Esidimeni, which is an ode to the 144 psychiatric patients in Gauteng who died due to government neglect in 2015. But the song was recorded long before the tragedy, it was just yet to be titled.

ALSO READ: ‘I needed time to myself’ – Malcolm Jiyane about going AWOL

Balance

Last year Jiyane went AWOL after feeling overwhelmed because he couldn’t find a balance between work and his personal life.

“Since the release of Umdali, I got overwhelmed by the reception. Instantly after it came out, I performed a lot around the world, even when I came back, I had a lot of bookings” Jiyane told The Citizen about a year ago.

The renowned artist said he has found balance between work and his personal life now. 

“I’ve learnt not to overdo things. I live with my daughter, and I just dropped her off at school and I’ll have to pick her up later. You can’t do this work [of an artist] with blockages.”

Jiyane is also part of SPAZA, a collective of musicians that include vocalist Nosisi Ngakane, keyboard player Nkosinathi Mathunjwa, saxophonist Lina Tshabalala, percussionist Gontse Makhane, drummer Lungile Kunene and bassist Ayanda Zalekile.

The ensemble was commissioned by the National Arts Festival to reflect on the life of Makhanda, a Xhosa leader and warrior-prophet who lived in the early 19th century and led a massive attack on the British in Grahamstown in 1819.

SPAZA will be performing at Joburg Jazz club Untitled Basement on Friday.

“We presented this work a year ago at Makhanda. We’ll be playing songs we performed last year,” said Jiyane. Jiyane said later this year SPAZA will release the album of the recording from last year.

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