kwaNTU: Two Generations of South African Guitar Mastery in Dialogue

Bringing together Madala Kunene, the elder statesman of the Zulu guitar, and internationally acclaimed Sibusile Xaba, kwaNTU unites two generations of South African guitar virtuosity. The album, whose title can be translated as “the place of the life-spirit,” captures a rare collaboration between teacher and student, blending tradition with contemporary expression.

Madala Kunene, born in 1951 in Cato Manor near Durban, is revered as the King of the Zulu Guitar. With a recording career beginning at the close of apartheid, Kunene has long been celebrated for his transformative approach to the maskanda tradition and his spiritually infused musical sensibility. Even in his mid-seventies, he remains a guiding light for South Africa’s contemporary musicians.

Sibusile Xaba, a native of Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal, grew up immersed in music through his parents and local culture. From homemade tin guitars to formal studies in Pretoria, Xaba developed a distinctive style drawing from South African guitar lineages and US jazz masters like Wes Montgomery and Jim Hall. Over the past decade, he has studied under Kunene, forging a close mentorship that became the foundation for kwaNTU.

Recorded in Utrecht at Kwantu Village, the album is the product of five days of intensive collaboration, improvisation, and deep listening. Joined by Gontse Makhene on percussion and backing vocals and Fakazile on vocals, Kunene and Xaba created the bulk of the album in a single-night recording session, with additional overdubs completed later in Johannesburg. The result is a meditative, richly textured work that foregrounds dialogue, responsive interplay, and the passing on of musical knowledge across generations.

kwaNTU highlights not only the virtuosity of its two principal players but also the continuity of South Africa’s rich guitar traditions. Kunene’s guidance and Xaba’s dedication converge in a recording that resonates with history while pointing confidently toward the future, offering international audiences a first-time glimpse of the elder master alongside one of the country’s most exciting contemporary voices.