Biography
Linda Sikhakhane, a South African tenor and soprano saxophonist, cultivates a physical yet sensitive tone that fuses lyrical and spiritual threads drawn from John Coltrane and Billy Harper through Winston Mankunku Ngozi, Thandi Ntuli and longtime collaborator Nduduzo Makhathini. He has performed and recorded alongside respected South African and international figures including Brian Thusi, Gregory Potter and Reggie Workman. In 2016 Sikhakhane received the SAMRO Overseas Scholarship; the following year, while enrolled in jazz studies at New School University, he issued his debut album Two Sides, One Mirror. The live recording An Open Dialogue (Live in New York) appeared in 2020, and Isambulo followed in 2022 to widespread international praise, earning him the Standard Bank Young Jazz Artist award that same year. He signed with Universal Music Africa in 2023, then delivered his third studio album Iladi via Blue Note in 2024.
Born in Durban’s Umlazi Township, Sikhakhane first encountered music at Siyakhula Music Centre through recorder lessons and continued at Clairwood Boys Primary School. His deepening passion for jazz prompted a switch to saxophone and studies with Brian Thusi and Khulekani Bhengu; he later completed a jazz diploma at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal. His recording career began in 2014 on pianist and composer Nduduzo Makhathini’s Mother Tongue, and he also performed with Afrika Mkhize’s septet. The next year he contributed to McCoy Mrubata’s Brasskap Sessions Vol. 2 and co-founded the hip-hop horn ensemble H3.
Using the 2016 SAMRO scholarship, Sikhakhane moved to New York and entered the New School’s jazz program, where he worked with Billy Harper, Reggie Workman, David Schnitter and Charles Tolliver before earning a master’s degree in jazz studies. In 2018 he joined Thandi Ntuli’s large ensemble for the independently released Exiled. The following year he led a jazz nonet at the school’s Arnold Hall; that concert was self-released in 2020 as An Open Dialogue (Live in New York). After returning to South Africa he featured on Makhathini’s globally acclaimed Blue Note debut In the Spirit of NTU and on Sibusiso Mash Mashiloane’s Music From My People, then recorded Isambulo for New York’s Ropeadope label with ensembles ranging from quartets to sextets. Released in 2023, the album drew acclaim throughout the international jazz press and paved the way for his Universal Music Africa and Blue Note contracts. That year he also appeared on Bokani Dyer’s Radio Sechaba (Brownswood) and Mbuso Khoza’s Ifa Lomkhono (Ropeadope).
Blue Note and Universal Music Africa issued Sikhakhane’s label debut Iladi in July 2024. Produced by Makhathini, who also played piano, the sessions included double bassist Zwelakhe-Duma Bell le Pere and drummer Kweku Sumbry.
Born in Durban’s Umlazi Township, Sikhakhane first encountered music at Siyakhula Music Centre through recorder lessons and continued at Clairwood Boys Primary School. His deepening passion for jazz prompted a switch to saxophone and studies with Brian Thusi and Khulekani Bhengu; he later completed a jazz diploma at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal. His recording career began in 2014 on pianist and composer Nduduzo Makhathini’s Mother Tongue, and he also performed with Afrika Mkhize’s septet. The next year he contributed to McCoy Mrubata’s Brasskap Sessions Vol. 2 and co-founded the hip-hop horn ensemble H3.
Using the 2016 SAMRO scholarship, Sikhakhane moved to New York and entered the New School’s jazz program, where he worked with Billy Harper, Reggie Workman, David Schnitter and Charles Tolliver before earning a master’s degree in jazz studies. In 2018 he joined Thandi Ntuli’s large ensemble for the independently released Exiled. The following year he led a jazz nonet at the school’s Arnold Hall; that concert was self-released in 2020 as An Open Dialogue (Live in New York). After returning to South Africa he featured on Makhathini’s globally acclaimed Blue Note debut In the Spirit of NTU and on Sibusiso Mash Mashiloane’s Music From My People, then recorded Isambulo for New York’s Ropeadope label with ensembles ranging from quartets to sextets. Released in 2023, the album drew acclaim throughout the international jazz press and paved the way for his Universal Music Africa and Blue Note contracts. That year he also appeared on Bokani Dyer’s Radio Sechaba (Brownswood) and Mbuso Khoza’s Ifa Lomkhono (Ropeadope).
Blue Note and Universal Music Africa issued Sikhakhane’s label debut Iladi in July 2024. Produced by Makhathini, who also played piano, the sessions included double bassist Zwelakhe-Duma Bell le Pere and drummer Kweku Sumbry.
Albums
Singles
Live
