The K Jazz Show on Kofifi FM 97.2

On today’s edition, wherever in the world you may be listening from, this is The K Jazz Show — your Sunday to everyday favourite, where the music breathes, the stories matter, and the artists who are shaping the sound of now find a home. Today we welcome a pianist, composer, sound architect and musical storyteller whose music has been described as ethereal, heavy-hitting, extremely funky and completely infectious. Born in Detroit, forged in the Midwest, sharpened in New York, and now moving across the global stage — this is a musician who is not just playing the piano, but redefining how the instrument speaks in modern music. He has worked with artists like Topaz Jones, Cleo Reed,, Amanda Barise including Tivon Penicott — and somewhere between touring, music directing, sound designing and composing, he is quietly becoming one of the most sought-after pianists of his generation. Kofifi FM, The K Jazz Show introduces Idris Frederick.

There are voices in jazz that arrive like a whisper on a late evening breeze—intimate, luminous, and timeless. Voices that don’t simply sing songs but inhabit them. This Sunday on The K Jazz Show, we welcome one such voice. For over three decades, the Grammy-nominated vocalist Stacey Kent has shaped a singular musical world—one where jazz meets the romance of chanson, the elegance of the Great American Songbook, and the quiet poetry of everyday moments. From her celebrated collaborations with saxophonist Jim Tomlinson to her award-winning interpretations of composers like Antonio Carlos Jobim and lyricist Kazuo Ishiguro, Stacey has crafted a sound that feels both classic and entirely her own. With albums such as Breakfast on the Morning Tram, The Changing Lights, and I Know I Dream: The Orchestral Sessions, she has traveled the world carrying songs like postcards from distant emotional landscapes. And now, that voice journeys to South African soil as one of the headlining artists at the inaugural Montreux Jazz Festival Franschhoek, taking place from 27–29 March 2026 in the breathtaking Franschhoek Valley—where the legendary Montreux spirit meets African soul in a celebration of music, culture, art, food, and wine.

Lit Culture, an independent bookstore and cultural space in Johannesburg, has honored us with an invitation into their Brixton home to share our work as the Dawjee Trio. ‎On Friday evening, 06 March 2026, إِنْ شَاءَٱللَّٰهُ, we gather some lines & other notes in the presence of Lit Culture’s deeply considered collection of art, politics, music, and African thought. ‎The Jozi Jazz Plug took a look.

Bisoux’s quintessential sound is a cross-over fusion of elements that reinvent the sound of cool jazz, swing, hard bop, modal jazz and the avante garde. Imagery of Ella Fitzgerald, John Coltrane, Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock are reflected in the arrangements and improvisations. The fusion of various elements evolves to create an organic sound with a myriad of soundscapes, swing & deep soulful groove. Vocalist Wendy Allen Twyford is our guest.

Bandleader. Composer. Living Legend. McCoy Mrubata doesn’t follow the rhythm; he creates the heartbeat. His latest offering, Children On The Frontline, is more than an album, it is a manifesto. South African jazz in its purest, most provocative form. This Sunday.

“Today, The K Jazz Show doesn’t just fellowship with the artist—we enter a living archive.
 We are surrounded by paint, memory, vinyl, silence, and sound. 
This is where Jazz listens back. 
Sitting with me, is one of South Africa’s most revered visual storytellers, the man whose art hums, swings, remembers, and refuses to forget… Welcome, Sam Nhlengethwa.

On the K Jazz Show, This Sunday, we wrap up the year that was, and we find ourselves in Italy with a renowned bassist and composer who has received multiple awards for his exceptional talent. Michelangelo Scandroglio an artist whose journey has taken him from Europe’s great jazz stages to the world’s most respected festivals… and now, fresh from his inaugural visit to South Africa. From Umbria Jazz to the Kennedy Center, from fearless collaborations to bold new musical visions, we unpack the story, the sound, and the spirit behind the music. It’s a global reflection.
 A year-end pause. And a celebration of jazz without borders.

This Sunday on The K Jazz Show… The future calls, and it swings.
 The Cape Town born, Amsterdam based bassist takes the chair, unpacking his powerful debut album, Future Kwela. From township grooves to global jazz language, from inherited rhythm to bold new imagination this is kwela remembered forward. Join us for a conversation about heritage, movement, young voices shaping the horizon, and music that knows where it comes from… and where it’s going.

This Sunday we welcome an artist who lives beautifully in the in-between —that luminous grey space where jazz, soul, folk, poetry and memory weave themselves into something entirely her own. London–Johannesburg–Paris based singer, pianist and storyteller Matshidiso Mohajane joins us fresh on the show, carrying with her a new body of work that feels at once intimate, brave and borderless. Her new album, IDKL — I Didn’t Know Love, is a genre-blending tapestry of truth, tenderness and radical honesty Matshidiso is one of those rare boundary-pushers who honours the improvisational fire of jazz while stepping boldly into new sonic frontiers.

We welcome back a profound musical thinker, a sonic architect, and one of the most quietly influential forces in contemporary South African jazz. He last graced our airwaves when he gifted us Baba in 2016 and since then, his artistry has only deepened, sharpened, and expanded. Pianist, composer, bandleader, scholar, and collaborator of the highest order… Yonela Mnana returns to The K Jazz Show with a brand-new offering, "Echoes of Marabi "— a bold, beautiful collaboration with Swiss saxophonist Benedikt Reising and the transcendent Soultee Sisters.

It’s always special when we welcome back the giants of our sound, the elders who continue to move the language of jazz forward. Our guest needs little introduction; he’s a saxophonist, composer, producer, cultural thinker, and one of the most profound creative voices in South African music. The last time we spoke, he had just released Enhlizweni, a record that dug deep into our spiritual and musical connectedness. And now, he’s back with Multipolar, his 11th studio album, a sonic meditation that jazz writer Gwen Ansell describes as ‘not American, copycat, or retro,’ but absolutely of this place and of this time.

This Sunday on The K Jazz Show, we’re taking a trip that begins on the banks of the Bosphorus, glides through the cobbled streets of Florence, making its way to Johannesburg — where jazz meets joy, culture meets curiosity, and rhythm knows no borders. An extraordinary young voice in global jazz — Hakan Başar, the 21-year-old Turkish piano virtuoso whose elegance, maturity, and flair have been making waves since his debut On Top on the Roof,. He was recently in Johannesburg for the Joy of Jazz Festival, where his trio’s performance left audiences breathless — not just for their technical mastery, but for their unmistakable warmth and cultural openness. Together, they’ve crafted a stunning new album, Maiden Voyage — a nod to Herbie Hancock’s classic, but with a fresh, youthful vitality that reminds us that jazz, much like travel, is about rediscovery.

It is always a joy on The K Jazz Show to bring you the sounds and stories of artists who are not just shaping the present, but also defining the future of jazz. This Sunday, we are honored to welcome one of the brightest rising stars on the global scene — a 25-year-old Haitian-American baritone whose voice is as rich in depth as it is in vision. Tyreek McDole is no stranger to acclaim — in 2023 he won the prestigious Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition, becoming only the second male vocalist in its history to do so. And now, he gifts us with his long-awaited debut album, "Open Up Your Senses", a project that is both bold and tender, rooted in jazz tradition yet expansive in its exploration of spirituality, self-reflection, and social consciousness.

South Africa’s jazz story is a living archive, and each artist adds a new chapter to this ongoing melody. Today on The K Jazz Show, as we open our Heritage Month series, I am truly delighted to be joined by a pianist whose music is both rooted and boundless, deeply African yet universally resonant. He is internationally acclaimed, a winner of the Central Music Awards for jazz, and a nominee at the Mzansi Jazz Awards. He has taken his music to the stages of Europe, India, and across our beloved South Africa — all while shaping the next generation through education and mentorship. Thapelo Khumisi was on The K Jazz Show

So this Sunday, you and I connect with a young drummer from Tel Aviv in Israel by the name of Ofri Nehemya, who has shared stages in collaboration with incredible artists has marked himself as one of the most prominent Israeli drummers in the global jazz scene, collaborating with world wide known artists including Avishai Cohen (bass), Ben Wendel, Shai Maestro, Omer Avital and many others. He is our cover story artist in the 3rd hour this week and we also get to listen to some of his composition and talk to him about his walk with Jazz.

On The K Jazz Show today, we welcome one of the great voices of our time on trumpet—Sean Jones. He’s a celebrated bandleader, composer, and former lead trumpeter of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis. As Artistic Director of Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Jazz Orchestra, Sean is shaping the next generation of jazz ambassadors, taking this music across the globe. He joins us to talk about the powerful new live album Live in Johannesburg, recorded at the iconic Market Theatre here in city. This is a story of music, history, and cultural exchange told through the spirit of jazz.

The second hour of The K Jazz Show, we welcome a phenomenal artist whose journey is a story of passion, excellence, and jazz brilliance. She is the 2025 Standard Bank Young Artist for Jazz, a trailblazing trombonist, composer, and arranger whose music has graced global stages from Montreux to New York’s Blue Note. This includes performances alongside legends like Hugh Masekela and Ulysses Owens Jr., including the formation of her own sextet, she continues to push the boundaries of South African jazz on the world stage. As she prepares for her much-anticipated debut performance at the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz, we are thrilled to have her with us.

As we are firmly into the second hour of our show and today, we’re thrilled to welcome an incredible talent as part of our “Road to the Joy of Jazz 2025” series. From electrifying saxophone solos to her soulful compositions, Lakecia’s music has captured hearts around the world. And now, she’s coming to Johannesburg for the Joy of Jazz Festival—and we couldn’t be more excited to have her stop by our way as part of her journey to our favourite festival.

When we say Page Three on The K Jazz Show, we’re talking about those artists who don’t just play music – they live it. We have a guest who has taken the cello – yes, the cello – from the township streets of Sebokeng to the world stage. He is a man whose music breathes, dances, and prays across continents and centuries. On the K Jazz Show, we welcome the extraordinary Abel Selaocoe, here to talk about his current project “Hymns of Bantu” and the upcoming live debut solo offering “Four Spirits”, which show cases music that is already shaking the global scene with its deep rhythms, chants, and spiritual truths.

Now, every so often, we get to witness an artist whose very being feels like music. Someone who doesn’t just play jazz — but breathes, bends, reshapes, and reimagines what’s possible within it. And when that artist happens to be a four-time Grammy Award winner, an inventive bassist, a luminous vocalist, a fearless composer, and one of the most captivating live performers of our time —as music lover you are compelled to make space, to lean in, and certainly listen deeply. It is my absolute pleasure and honour to welcome to The K Jazz Show — a global icon and this year’s Joy of Jazz headliner, Esperanza Spalding.