Tutu Puoane, Ewout Pierreux & Lebo Mashile - Wrapped in Rhythm

Timing

7.45 p.m. the living room is open
8.30 p.m. concert starts

Singer Tutu Puoane (born in Pretoria, South Africa, but living in Antwerp, Belgium, since 2005) carried the poetry collection In A Ribbon Of Rhythm by her compatriot and contemporary Lebo Mashile under her arm for almost ten years. Mashile's poetry offers a unique and highly personal insight into the reality and emotional world of a young black African woman from the first post-apartheid generation in South Africa. The poems made a deep impression on Tutu, and every time she read them, she heard music.

Eventually, together with her partner in life and music, pianist Ewout Pierreux, she wrote a number of songs based on some of her favourites from Mashile's collection. The result is a repertoire at her own African crossroads of jazz, singer-songwriting and soul. This music forms the basis for a double album project entitled “Wrapped In Rhythm”, the first part of which was released in March 2024, produced by American musician/bassist/producer Larry Klein (Joni Mitchell, Tracy Chapman, Thomas Dybdahl, Herbie Hancock, ...) and which has since been very warmly received, including 3 South African Jazz Awards in Tutu's home country (Best Female Artist 2024, Best International Jazz Album 2024, Best Contemporary Jazz Album 2024).  Volume 2 is a collaboration with the Dutch Metropole Orchestra, featuring arrangements by Belgian trumpeter and arranger Bert Joris, and was released in September 2025.

As a duo, the pair bring the songs back to their essence and to how they were written. The open and loose structures of the repertoire allow them to approach the songs in a free, improvised and communicative way. Those who have already seen her on stage know that this is an ideal context for Puoane at her best. With her beautiful voice, her down-to-earth charisma and her natural ability to communicate, she effortlessly wins the hearts of any audience.