Thandi Ntuli

Multiaward winning young jazz pianist and vocalist, Thandi Ntuli, was born in Soshanguve, one of South Africa’s largest townships. Located north of the administrative capital Tshwane. She started playing the piano at the age of 4. However, it was only in high school that she developed any real desire to become a professional musician. Thandi Ntuli is the niece of multi- instrumentalist and lead vocalist of the historic Afro fusion band Harari, Selby Ntuli.
In 2014 she released her debut record, The Offering independently and has since come to be recognised as one of the leading voices of modern South African Jazz. The record showcases Thandi as a gifted pianist and imaginative composer and was nominated for a MetroFM Award (2015) as well winning the Arts & Culture Trust Impact Award (2016). Her strength as band leader is reflected in the powerhouse of some of the best talents in the new generation of jazz musicians that it features. These include Sisonke Xonti (tenor saxophone), Mthunzi Mvubu (alto saxophone), Keenan Ahrends (guitar), Sphelelo Mazibuko (drums), Benjamin Jephta (double bass) and Spha Mdlalose (lead vocals). It also features the experienced hand of trumpeter, Marcus Wyatt (trumpet).
The album was a culmination of a few years of playing as a session pianist in some of the most notable bands in South Africa. These include working with Steve Dyer’s band in the recording and performing of his album, Confluence, with experimental jazz vocalist and trombonist Siya Makuzeni's on her album Out of This World and on trumpeter, Lwanda Gogwana’s debut album, Chapter One, which later was nominated for 3 South African Music Awards.
Over and above these collaborations as a jazz musician, her studio work has included working with electronic music artist Jazzuelle on his debut album Cirlces (2017) and co-producing house artist SirLSG 's debut album Moving Circles (2017).
Other projects she has worked in include those led by singer songwriter Neo Muyanga, American steel-panist Andy Narell, vocalist Thandiswa Mazwai, The Cape Philharmonic Orchestra, a collaboration with singer, rapper and producer Georgia Anne Muldrow, with DJ and producer QB Smith and Rebirth of Cool which experiments with jazz and hip hop and features the renowned selector, Kenny "DJKenzhero" Nzama on the decks.
The release of her sophomore album, "Exiled" released on 1 February 2018, coincided with the start of her year as the recipient of the coveted Standard Bank Young Artist for Jazz award. True to her eclectic musical influences, the music goes beyond the confines of genre with references from Mali and Ethiopia and earned her a spotlight by Apple Music as one of the artists to watch for 2018. The album also includes a bit of spoken word, showing the diversity in her expression. "Her lyrics – on subjects of love, fellowship and postcolonial reckoning – spring from a similar insistence on inquiry." (The New York Times – Giovanni Russonello)
It is this display as not only a talented pianist and vocalist but as an intriguing composer that has seen her work featured in a number of films locally and abroad. Most notable amongst these is the remake of Spike Lee’s She’s Got To Have It on Netflix.
Thandi has appeared, both as a sideman and a band leader, at many festivals across the globe. These include The Cape Town International Jazz Festival, The Standard Bank Joy of Jazz, The Standard Bank National Youth Jazz Festival, Safaricom Jazz Festival (Nairobi) The Calabar International Jazz Festival (Nigeria) and The Mzansi Encounters (Switzerland).