What’s in a name? Jazz musician Soweto Kinch talks to Catch a Vibe

Soweto – a Johannesburg area that made the world pay attention to the issues South Africans were facing at the time. In 1976 Soweto witnessed its people stand up against Apartheid and change the way the government was dictating things. Two years on and the name of such a revolutionary town was given to jazz musician in waiting, Soweto Kinch.

With a belt full of awards from the Rising Star, White Saxophone, a couple of MOBOs, a Mercury Music Prize nomination, and two BBC Jazz awards, Soweto Kinch still manages to keep his focus towards offering a creative voice on his most recent material for so many that go unheard. “The message for this particular moment is one of self-empowerment’ he says. ‘Being able to look around and to realise that we, particularly as artists and creators have the freedom to be able to say the things that politicians can’t. We let our art speak for itself, and comment on everything from the economic crisis, to social alienation to history; all the things that we want to. I think that once we take up that opportunity, then music is gonna sound a lot more interesting again…”

Soweto Kinch’s debut album Conversations with the Unseen blessed us all in 2003 with its fast-paced and poetic sound as Soweto expressed his love for hip hop and rhymed over a selection of rhythms. His second album, A Life in the Day of B19 – Tales of the Towerblock boasted narration from the iconic Moira Stewart, the first African-Caribbean newsreader in the UK who first appeared on TV in 1981. Today, Soweto Kinch is still keeping it revolutionary and working on his eagerly anticipated mix tape called “The War in Iraq” “It’s based on a blog I put out a couple of years ago. It’s my rumination on the music industry and having the power now to independent artistry, the licence, the opportunities as an independent artist, to represent our own voices, without the intrusion of an industry.”

With Soweto Kinch’s influences coming from the likes of Ty, Roots Manuva, Georgia Anne Muldrow and Bach to name just a few, it’s a huge understatement to say that Soweto’s tastes are broad, thus adding to the reason why when purchasing his material, you don’t just get great alto sax to chill out to, you also get gritty, poetic and expressive hip hop to compliment it. So will we be purchasing a jazz or hip hop album when we get hold of his latest release? “More the latter, but I’ve always been keen to not get thrown into either camp” Soweto ponders, “I think it was important for me to just explore the almost more pure hip hop aspects of my music for the purpose of this and it’s a fix, six track EP, very cosy, just letting people know that I’m out here doing new material as well! I’m a saxophone-playing MC, bringing jazz and hip hop together and hopefully elevating people’s life experiences in the process.”

In the Mix – with Soweto Kinch, Sun 22 Nov @ Rich Mix

Soweton Kinch’s mix tape launc, Sun 29 Nov @ Rich Mix (TBC)

Soweto Kinch official website

2 Responses to “What’s in a name? Jazz musician Soweto Kinch talks to Catch a Vibe”

• I’ll second that Soweto and the wall vibe- is it from an CD cover as I’ve tried to find it.

  Twin Celeste says
  15/02/2011 at 7:27 pm

• Beautiful photo of Soweto Kinch, courtesy of Pogus Caesar. The wall behind Soweto evokes a magical yet haunting feeling.

  http://www.flickr.com/photos/75913636@N00/5122599387/

  Edwina says
  31/01/2011 at 8:53 pm