Kwani Experience  - Funk, Jazz, Soul and African Hip-Hop Band - Johannesburg

Having done a couple of European tours in countries like France, Belgium, Netherlands, which has become the band’s second home, Bosnia-Herzegovina, where they performed to roaring crowds and a few African countries such as Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Lesotho and Cape Verde, Kwani Experience is proving to be one of the greatest South African exports. These tours have provided Kwani with a great platform to spread their wings internationally promoting their recently released second album LIVE AFTER BIRTH and spreading the message for their Social campaign titled ‘LIVE WITHOUT FEAR’.

Kwani Experience

An exciting new talent, Kwani Experience is an 8-piece band hailing from the inner city of Johannesburg. A diverse and groundbreaking outfit their sound is similarly hip like their name from the Zulu (“o kwa Ini” meaning “of what?)”

They create a unique fusion of jazz, soul, funk, hip-hop traditional and modern African flavours with some experimental touches. Indefinable, they do something quite unique in this country, whilst keeping the music real and accessible.

Winners of the STANDARD BANK/ KAYA fm 95.9 “Totally Jazzed” showcase from late last year, the band sees its first CD release after two years of live performances around the nation. On winning the competition the group hosted a gig at the HORROR CAFÉ in Newtown that saw attendance of over 700 people!

 

The Kwani Experience educates, elevates and entertains both young and the old. The main genres identifiable in the music are: African Folk, Contemporary African, Hip-Hop, Soul, Jazz, Experimental Jazz (Drum & Bass) and Funk. “The motherland funk is something that you’ve heard before, what you are still to hear, somehow familiar but yet like nothing that you’ve heard in these times”, articulate the members of Kwani Experience.

The members have in their individual capacities performed, partaken and “paid dues” in the ‘underground’ of the music bizz as well as established and well-developed theatre and musical productions. The band was formed in January 2004 and has since then performed at a number of venues in and around Johannesburg and Durban to resounding responses and reviews.

On stage, Kwani Experience is both visually and musically interactive, blending rehearsed, spontaneous and improvised impromptu acts. Artistic self-expression is not a thing limited to performances or the rehearsal room with Kwani; it’s a daily Experience.

Kwani Experience

The band has had thumbs-up and a go-ahead into the future by peer, legendary and veteran musicians, radio personalities and record execs. Among them: Tu Nokwe, Selaelo Selota, Tshepo Tshola, Paulo Chibanga [340 ml.], Bheki Mseleku, Vusi Khumalo, Concord Nkabinde, Bruce Sebitlo [Kalawa Jazmee] & Guffy, Thabo Mashishi, Sanza [Harambe- Y FM], Pat Cash [Kaya FM] & Bob Mabena, Mandla Mlotswa [Music lecturer- Natal Technikon] and Robert Trunz [M.E.L.T. 2000].

Currently the band is signed under SHEER SOUND, a result of the 2004 Totally Jazzed Showcase, a contest partnered by Sheer Sound, Kaya FM 95.9 and Standard Bank. The collective were the ultimate winners, selected for their innovation, fresh ideas and concepts.

Some members are involved in projects with M.E.L.T. 2000. Highlights for 2004 include the Playtime Festival [French Institute of South Africa], Standard Bank Jazz on the Square [Mary Fitzgerald Square], Lefifi Tladi [Veteran poet & fine artist] documentary shoot [Horror Café, Newtown], opening of Dumile Feni’s ‘Retrospective Exhibition’ @ the Johannesburg Art Gallery [as the first band ever in history to perform at that gallery], Black Souls Exhibition [@ J.A.G.], Trans Africa Express [Bat Centre, Durban] and Joy of Note [Durban] songs on their debut album “The Birth of The Motherland Funk”.

The latter song got embraced by the masses at the recent Bob Marley celebrations in Ethiopia (February 2005). The IEC has expressed great interest in the group, a pilot song has been produced and looks set to see the group becoming both the voice and faces of the upcoming municipal elections with TV, radio and live exposure guaranteed. No political alignment – merely telling the youth to be conscious and make their mark on the day to secure their futures.

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Kwani Experience  - Funk, Jazz, Soul and African Hip-Hop Band - Johannesburg