The South African pianist and composer Nduduzo Makhathini has released one of 2026's most quietly ambitious jazz statements with "On the Myth We Choose," an album that gathers his signature blend of Zulu cosmology and spiritual jazz into a sustained meditation on legacy, community, forgiveness and hope.
A Pianist Rooted in Ritual
Makhathini has spent the past decade building a body of work that treats music as a form of healing practice, drawing on the traditions of his upbringing in KwaZulu-Natal and the lineage of visionary players such as John Coltrane, Alice Coltrane and the South African elders who preceded him. As the first South African artist signed to Blue Note Records, he has carried that inheritance onto an international stage without diluting its ceremonial core.
What the New Album Explores
The title itself is a provocation: the myths we choose shape how we remember and how we move forward. Across the record, Makhathini frames storytelling as an ethical act, using modal harmony, incantatory piano figures and rich ensemble textures to explore how communities reconcile with their pasts. The music breathes with call-and-response feeling, at once intimate and expansive.
- Artist: Nduduzo Makhathini, pianist and composer from South Africa.
- Album: "On the Myth We Choose," a spiritual jazz meditation.
- Themes: Legacy, community, forgiveness and hope.
- Context: Makhathini is the first South African artist signed to Blue Note Records.
Spiritual Jazz for a Fractured Moment
Where much contemporary jazz prizes velocity and virtuosity, Makhathini prizes intention. His playing leaves space for silence and resonance, treating each phrase as an offering rather than a display. That patience gives "On the Myth We Choose" its gravity, allowing listeners to sit inside the music's questions rather than rushing toward answers.
A Global Conversation
The album lands as spiritual jazz enjoys a broad international revival, with younger audiences discovering its capacity for both introspection and protest. Makhathini's contribution is distinctive because it is grounded in a specific cultural cosmology rather than borrowed abstraction, connecting African spiritual tradition to the improvisational freedom of the jazz continuum.
The result is a record that rewards repeated, unhurried listening. "On the Myth We Choose" asks its audience to consider which stories they carry forward, and offers music generous enough to hold the weight of that question.