Bokani Dyer may not be a morning person but he seems to be creatively inclined even when things look bleak.
Working on an entire album during the year-long lockdown, the solo project is a labor of love that could not have come at a more pertinent time in the country.
With many artists struggling to make ends meet and the deadlock between the National Arts Council and artists continuing, Bokani’s work is a testament to the tenacity local artists have.
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Playing across genres without compromise in ‘Kelenosi’
“It’s a beat album with piano.”
Bokani’s latest album Kelenosi, is anything but cut and dry. Neither straight-ahead jazz nor traditional hip-hop beats, the project is something new made by borrowing from several genres without compromising any.
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Kelenosi was performed for the first time at Untitled Basement in Joburg in November 2020. He let the audience in on how the album came about.
“At the beginning of 2020, I was actually working on another album (Radio Sechaba). When lockdown hit, that wasn’t possible, I didn’t have contact with other musicians, there were no live shows. I was basically left to my own devices, so I started making beats by myself. ‘Kelenosi’ means ‘by myself’ [in Setswana].”
What was played that evening served as an auditory guide for what Dyer attempted with the album. Each of the musical styles Dyer is adept in, take turns at prominence on each of the eight songs that make up Kelenosi.
He is also back in-studio completing work on Radio Sechaba.
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A prominent trailblazer in contemporary South African jazz who’s sought after on the international circuit, Bokani was born in Gaborone, Botswana but currently resides in Joburg. He was educated in jazz music at home by his father Steve Dyer and at the University of Cape Town’s College of Music (the University of Cape Town) where he graduated in 2008.
While still a student at the institution, Dyer played in the Big Band which had a mainly jazz repertoire, composed and recorded music for his first album Mirrors (2010), and also founded the experimental electronic music duo Soul Housing Project with vocalist Sakhile Moleshe.
The experimental spirit of Soul Housing Project is pervasive throughout Kelenosi, but most accentuated on the song “Kwaranteen”.
He shared the inspiration behind his album with Thabiso Sikwane:
