The K Jazz Show Podcasts

This Sunday, on The K Jazz Show George Burton, the Brooklyn piano provocateur bringing Dark Science, his daring musical collaboration with Siya Makuzeni, to Johannesburg. Jazz, electricity and beautiful rebellion. Your Sunday just got interesting. #TKJS #GeorgeBurton #TakeMeThere

Travelling 10 years back in time, we open a very special chapter in the story of one of South Africa’s most distinctive musical voices. Ten years ago, Siya Makuzeni released Out Of This World — an album born of spirit, imagination, collaboration and a fearless search for her own musical language. A decade later, we return to that music with the woman who created it. We talk about where the album began, the extraordinary musicians who helped shape its sound, the stories hiding between the notes, and what ten years of life has revealed to Siya about the music she made then. But we don't stop at the anniversary. We get to know the woman behind the trombone, the voice and the stage — and look ahead to the music, ideas and possibilities beginning to gather on her horizon. It's intimate. It's reflective. It's joyful. And there are a few things Siya shares that I think you'll want to hear.

There are conversations you have because, for a moment, you want to sit down and listen to a life. Since April, The K Jazz Show has been taking you on a journey towards this year's Standard Bank Joy of Jazz — introducing you to the musicians, the composers, the voices and the stories that will make Johannesburg sing when the festival arrives. We have travelled across borders and musical traditions. We have spoken to artists about legacy, reinvention, resistance, rhythm, hope and that beautiful, slightly mysterious thing that happens when musicians from different worlds meet on the same stage. And today, we arrived at our final artist conversation.

Because talent may introduce you to the world, but knowledge, ownership and the right connections are what allow you to stay in the room. This September, the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz is making space for the next generation of African music makers through Jazz Wise—a powerful conversation about the business behind the music and the tools young creatives need to build careers that last. And joining us this morning is a woman who knows that journey intimately. A celebrated vocalist, curator, creative entrepreneur and the force behind the Folklore Festival, she understands the artistry, the hustle and the architecture behind a sustainable creative life. Pilani Bubu is in the house on The K Jazz Show.

This Sunday, The Jazz Circuit welcomes Linda Sikhakhane home to The K Jazz Show, as he opens the door to LINDA, his fifth album: a deeply personal meditation on purpose, belonging, ancestry, love and the making of a man. From Umlazi to KwaNongoma, from the memory of those who came before to the restless sound of what comes next. Linda brings the whole journey with him. A saxophone. A lineage. A searching soul. And a conversation about what happens when a man stops trying to become something else… and begins to compose himself.

A voice from Benin. Five Grammys. One Hollywood star. But first enter the fire. Angélique Kidjo arrives on The K Jazz Show.

There are conversations you have with an artist because there is a new record to talk about. And then there are conversations you have because, somewhere along the way, the music has changed and so has the musician with it. As for our guest, he and I have shared this space before. We've listened together. We've talked. We've followed the music as it has moved from one place to another. We've watched the collaborations and the performances, including the ideas coming to life. And yes, we've also watched a very public chapter of his journey come to an end. A chapter that generated its headlines, its opinions, and its conversations, some informed, some perhaps less so. However, this Sunday, we're not going back to reread those pages. Some stories are certainly not meant to be lived backwards. We're turning the page.

On The K Jazz Show, we open a new chapter with bassist, composer, and educator Timothy Joseph Norton, a musician whose journey has carried him through some of the world’s most revered stages, alongside extraordinary voices in jazz. And in a very special K Jazz Show moment, his new musical world brings him into conversation with South Africa’s Bokani Dyer and Siya Charles. We go beyond the credits. Beyond the album. Beyond the bass. We go back to the beginning and listen for the man becoming the musician.

Some artists leave us humming a melody. Others leave us thinking long after the music has ended. Our next guest has spent decades doing both. With a voice of rare depth and unmistakable elegance, he has carried stories of identity, humanity and hope onto some of the world's most prestigious stages, becoming one of contemporary jazz's most compelling vocalists. Ahead of his return to Johannesburg for the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz 2026, it is a real privilege to welcome a true gentleman of song to The K Jazz Show. Please welcome the remarkable Ola Onabulé.

Some albums announce themselves with noise. Others arrive quietly, settle into your spirit, and refuse to leave." We've had the privilege of watching Ingoma Busuku make exactly that journey, from an extraordinary debut to one of the defining South African jazz recordings of its generation. Today, its creator joins us not simply to celebrate an award-winning album, but to reflect on the road it has travelled, the people who shaped it, and the stories that continue to live within its songs. It's always a pleasure to welcome a friend of the show. Paras 'Sibalikhulu' Dlamini, back to The K Jazz Show

Back on #TheKJazzShow, Somi joins us to reflect on Zenzile, the meaning of homecoming, mutual friends, and her beautiful new album, What Does It Take to Bloom? An honest conversation on artistry, belonging, and becoming. #WhatDoesItTakeToBloom #JazzCircuit #TKJS

Some voices don't simply sing. They remember. They heal. They carry home wherever they go. This Sunday on Hour Africa, we welcome back our brother, Dumza Maswana, for one of our most heartfelt conversations yet. From Ngqushwa to India, from Celebrating African Song to the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz stage, we reflect on music, purpose, radio, legacy and the stories that continue to shape a remarkable career. Some conversations deserve your full attention.

This Sunday on #TheKJazzShow Alternative, French-Congolese artist Anaïs Rosso joins the #JazzCircuit. We talk about her Joy of Jazz debut, Paris’ vibrant jam session culture, and the fearless creativity shaping her sound, a conversation that looks beyond the music. #TKJS #JazzCircuit #JoyOfJazz

This week on The K Jazz Show, we sit with the extraordinary Kamasi Washington, saxophonist, composer, visionary, and one of the defining voices of contemporary music. From The Epic to Fearless Movement, from Kendrick Lamar’s GNX to the upcoming Joy of Jazz Festival 2026, a journey into the mind of an artist who continues to redefine the possibilities of jazz. #TKJS #SBJOJ2026 #KamasiWashington

Passport ready? We’re taking your ears to Germany as Sebastian Studnitzky joins us on The KJazz Show. He brings bold sounds, brilliant stories, and musical magic ahead of his Standard Bank Joy of Jazz performance this September. This Sunday. #TKJS #SBJOJ2026 #STUDNITZKY

A new voice. A heartfelt tribute. A future shaped by jazz. Rising trombonist and composer Thabone Masilela joins to share his journey, his vision for the next generation of South African jazz, and the story behind his new single, making its radio debut.

Before the lights rise at the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz Festival 2026, we voyage through borders, memory, and sound with Ibrahim Maalouf, a trumpet storyteller carrying Beirut, Paris, jazz, folklore, and the future in a single breath. This Sunday on the K Jazz Show. Music without borders. Spirit without limits. #JazzReIgnited #TKJS #TakeMeThere #SBJOJ2026

This Sunday, we journey across oceans and frequencies with the radiant Nubya Garcia. From London’s pulse to Johannesburg’s embrace, the sound returns home in a different light. We begin the road to Standard Bank Joy of Jazz with one of the defining voices of her generation. The art of becoming, again and again… #TKJS #NubyaGarcia #JazzReIgnited #TakeMeThere

This Sunday on the weekly jazz circuit feature , appears Kabelo Mokhatla, a drummer whose journey from Johannesburg to New York has become a quiet, powerful meditation on identity, discipline, and sound. Now, as one chapter closes, another begins… Grace. A moment shaped by growth, memory, and the spaces in between with a subtle unveiling of something not yet fully heard… including a reimagining of “Kuzodlula” from Nduduzo Makhathini’s The Myth We Choose. Not everything will be said. But if you listen closely… you’ll hear it first. #15YearsOfKofifi #KabeloMokhatla #TheJazzCircuit #TKJS

This Sunday on The K Jazz Show, a voice returns not to where she started — but to where she has always belonged. Twenty years carved in sound, spirit, and memory. With Ilitye (stone) she offers us something grounded, something eternal… a love letter to self, a quiet homecoming. Humaning out loud. #HourAfrica #TKJS #Zu #JazzAppreciationMonth