For years, the music of pianist, composer and scholar Dr Sibusiso “Mash” Mashiloane lived primarily in performance.
Now, the acclaimed South African jazz musician has put that music on the page.
Mashiloane has released "Sounds of Home: Compositions Book One", a collection of 60 original compositions presented as fully notated scores and made available as a free digital download.
The book is the first in a planned series that aims to document, preserve and make accessible a body of music developed over years of performance, research and collaboration.
The collection draws on music from across Mashiloane’s career, including compositions from his early work and pieces associated with his eight albums. Each composition is accompanied by programme notes in which Mashiloane reflects on the people, places, experiences and traditions that shaped the music.
Creating a lasting musical library
For Mashiloane, the project is about more than publishing sheet music. It is an attempt to create a lasting musical library that can be used by musicians, students and scholars around the world.
“I wanted to begin with 60 compositions as the foundation. This is the music notation. This will function as a library in which musicians and scholars could refer to,” he said.
A second volume is planned and will delve further into the pedagogy, analysis and theoretical ideas that underpin the compositions and the research surrounding them.
The decision to notate the music was also driven by repeated requests from students and musicians who wanted to understand how the pieces were performed and access the charts used in the recordings.
"I decided to write the music so it will be accessible. There were also those enthusiasts who were trying to play the music but they were omitting important details of the music.
"This is a well-detailed book in a musical format. Anyone who can read music across the world will see the chart and be able to play the music," he said.
At the heart of the collection is Mashiloane’s exploration of South African jazz as a form of knowledge. His music draws on Ubuntu, community memory and ideas of home, while blurring the boundaries between jazz and African musical traditions.
His influences include isiZulu and Ndebele musical traditions, as well as the broader musical landscape of South Africa.
“I am greatly inspired by the music that exists in our land,” he said.
Mashiloane's Influences
Growing up in the 1990s, Mashiloane listened not only to jazz but to the popular music of the era, including kwaito and the work of artists such as Brenda Fassie.
The compositions in Sounds of Home reflect that broad musical world. They include tributes to family members and mentors, reflections on township life and South African identity, and works shaped by the concept of isigqi, the organising pulse that sits at the centre of Mashiloane’s musical practice and academic research.
"The book not only has music notation but has narratives that accompany the music which explains in detail where does the song reside and what traditions inspired the song," said Mashiloane.
He lectures at the UKZN Centre for Jazz and Popular Music and has performed and recorded across South Africa, Switzerland, and the United States.
He said South Africa needs to do more to document its artistic traditions and the ways communities understand and experience art.
“I think we need to document more about our traditions and perceptions of art,” he said.
Mashiloane holds a PhD in Music from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, where he lectures at the Centre for Jazz and Popular Music. He also studied music for a year at Rowan University in New Jersey in the US.
He is the president of the SA Association for Jazz Education.
His debut jazz album, Amanzi Olwandle, was released in 2016. Since then, he has released eight albums and performed and recorded in South Africa, Switzerland and the United States. His most recent album, Isigqi: Live at the bird’s eye, was recorded in Basel with Swiss musicians.
In 2024, he composed the ISIGQI Suite for the National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Carnegie Hall. His work has earned recognition including a National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences Award, an AFRIMA Award and multiple Mzantsi Jazz Awards.
He is now working on his ninth album.
Greater purpose
For Mashiloane, making the collection freely available is central to its purpose.
“This music has always lived in performance and in memory. I wanted it to also live on the page, where other musicians could pick it up, learn from it, and carry it forward,” he said.
The book includes a foreword by pianist, scholar and Mashiloane’s former lecturer Neil Gonsalves, and an afterword by pianist Darius Brubeck, who introduced the first Jazz Studies degree programme in Africa at the University of Natal (now UKZN).
The full 60-composition collection is available immediately as a free PDF at www.sibumash.com.
taschica.pillay@nationalmg.co.za