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In celebration of 21 years since the passing of jazz genius Moses Molelekwa, pianist Bokani Dyer and author Phehello Mofokeng will engage in a discussion that elevates his musical contribution in/to the (post) democracy moment. The life of Moses Molelekwa was one full of promise and unmatched genius. He changed the face of jazz and brought it to his young generation. He affected the kwaito genre in ways that no artist has done to any other genre of music in South Africa. When he passed away – at the fine young age of 27 – Molelekwa was only beginning his grand musical journey. “His involvement in the music of the people – both jazz and kwaito – Molelekwa brings the working-class blacks closer to the altar of jazz, even if only by distant association, enabling him to break ontological boundaries imposed by critics, cataloguists and the ‘jazz establishment.’” Mofokeng uses kwaito intentionally because it points to Molelekwa’s outstanding musical expansiveness even though he was rooted in jazz.

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