UCT Jazz Takes Main Stage at the Cape Town International Jazz Festival

The Cape Town International Jazz Festival, ‘Africa’s Grandest Gathering’, returns in 2025 with a powerful reminder of where the heartbeat of South African jazz lies: right here at the University of Cape Town. With a lineup brimming with UCT Jazz staff, students, and alumni, this year’s festival is not just a celebration of jazz, but a bold showcase of the excellence cultivated within UCT’s South African College of Music and specifically the Jazz Programme.

Leading the charge is celebrated vocalist, composer, and UCT Jazz lecturer Nomfundo Xaluva, headlining with her own project and featuring several UCT alumni and current students in her band, including Pam Lunguza, Marzia Barry, and Brathew van Schalkwyk. Xaluva's presence on the main stage is both symbolic and substantive, a representation of how UCT Jazz nurtures top-tier talent, artistry, and innovation.

Another standout is trumpeter Muneeb Hermans, himself a UCT graduate, performing with a sextet made up almost entirely of UCT Jazz alumni: Blake Hellaby, Tefo Mahola, Sean Seanby, and Dylan Fine. These artists, all emerging from the same training ground, now command international attention with their own distinct voices.

The band Ritmo, featuring SACM Jazz staff members Justin Bellairs, Shaun Johannes, Amy Buitendag, Murray Buitendag, and Blake Hellaby, highlights the collaborative energy and calibre of current UCT Jazz lecturers, many of whom are not only teaching the next generation but also shaping the present jazz landscape.

UCT alumni are scattered across numerous headlining groups, from Ivan Mazuze to Kujenga, featuring Benjamin Jephta, Jodi Fredericks, Keno Carelse, Danél Murcot, and Bonga Mosola, to Thembi Dunjana’s dynamic band, and the Kyle Shepherd Trio, with bassist Shane Cooper and Shepherd himself — another UCT Jazz alumnus.

Prof Andrew Lilley, Director at College of Music, and lecturer in the Jazz Programme at UCT from its inception, reflects on the moment:

The impact of UCT Jazz on the Cape Town scene has been nothing short of transformative. Over the last two decades, we have seen a complete renaissance in local jazz, driven in large part by the artists who have come through our programme. From legends like Judith Sephuma, Musa Manzini, Ivan Mazuze and Jimmy Dludlu, to the next generation you see at this year’s festival - the legacy continues to grow. Without UCT Jazz, the Cape Town jazz landscape would be a very different place.

As the 2025 Festival gets underway, there is no clearer signal of excellence, consistency, and influence than the sheer scale of UCT Jazz’s footprint. This is not merely participation this is leadership. This is the main stage and UCT Jazz is right where it belongs.