Jazz teacher empowers young students

Gabi Motuba believes in advocating for young African musicians if this era.

ALSO READ: Former Diepkloof teacher offers Life Science lessons

The award-winning jazz vocalist, composer and music teacher has been featured among the young jazz instrumentalist of our time, bringing about new ideas to challenges they face in the industry.

Motuba believes that jazz is a skill, knowledge and awareness as well as the ability to discern what informs communities and to bear witness to that answer.

She developed deep love for jazz while she was still in tertiary and that was when she was able to discover the musician she wanted to become and has been heavily informed by till this day.

With her love for jazz, she draws motivation from the likes of jazz fanatics Esperanza Spalding, Gretchen Parlato, Cecil Mclorin Salvant, Mercedes Sossa, and Susana Baca.

ALSO READ: Local teacher launches her music career

“My journey as a music teacher has been challenged in grappling with knowing how the education system works for under privileged black children in South Africa.

“Having to introduce a curriculum which is sensitive to their day to day lived experience but also having the capacity to show them a glimpse of a possible future where their abilities are not limited by their struggles.

“This is also what informs me as a composer who is finding a way to reach my community during these trying times,” Motuba said.

In recent years, Motuba’s achievements have included being selected as a fellow at The Alternative Art School known as TAAS which is a fellowship training programme that equips young artists with the knowledge of global arts industries and how they work.

She was also selected as a commissioned artist for the 2022 Mutual Mentorship Programme founded by the renowned international jazz artist, Jen Shyu.

“I teach junior and senior classes which hold eight and 15 students respectively. During my teaching, I have learnt that young students are eager to learn and with the right guidance they have the potential to do incredible things.

ALSO READ: A teacher with a passion for cars

“It is important for me as a teacher to always make sure I am holding up a mirror of a future potential and not of a present experience, this is my responsibility as a teacher.”

In Motuba’s class, students learn to create art that helps them grapple with the lived experience of being an artist.

“Young people need guidance and as a young person I was blessed to have been surrounded by people who could show me a possible future with regards to the career I had chosen.

“Had I not received this information, I would have never been the artist I am today. I owe everything to those who were generous enough to point me in the right direction which opened up my world as a young artist.”

Motuba added that her music falls under the category of creative music although not limited to this definition and as an artist she always try to be in dialogue with an idea or a question and to use the tools of music and sound to explore that very idea.