SAZI ne SKOKIANA

Sazi Dlamini is a renowned musicologist specializing in South African jazz, black popular music history, and southern African musical bows. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, awarded in 2009 for his groundbreaking thesis, "South African Blue Notes: Bebop, Mbaqanga, Apartheid and the Exiling of a Musical Imagination."

Dr. Dlamini's research expertise extends to Nguni musical bows, including the ugubhu, umakhweyana, isithontolo (isiqomqomana), umqangala, and uhadi. Additionally, he crafts musical instruments from diverse materials such as bamboo, reed, horn, calabash, and recycled objects, including flutes, harps, and horns.

As a producer and performer, Sazi Dlamini collaborated on the 2017 album "Umakhweyana," a tribute to Zulu umakhweyana and umbheleza mouth-bow songs, featuring the late Mama Bavikile Ngema. He also released his debut album, "Skokiana," in 2017, showcasing his original compositions and arrangements, culminating from nearly four decades of professional experience as a guitarist and composer in the jazz-influenced South African township tradition.

Dr. Dlamini serves as volume editor for "Musical Bows of Southern Africa" (Bloomsbury Academic, 2020), a seminal publication in his field. Furthermore, he is a founding member of the Insurrections Ensemble, a multimedia performance collective featuring musicians, puppeteers, video artists, and poets from South Africa, India, Tanzania, China, and Ethiopia.