Nhlanhla Daniel Mahlangu was born on the 12th May 1989 in one of South Africa’s most vibrant townships, Mamelodi. Mahlangu was a fine art enthusiast before discovering his love and interest for music for which the clarinet was his first instrument. He was discovered by Jesse Mogale who runs a music education program named CAFCA. Although he first took up the clarinet, alto saxophone has always been his voice of choice. Mahlangu started playing the saxophone in 2006 under the tutorship of Koos Washington Jele who’s also known as “Bra Vus’ ” who hails from Alexandra township. Some of Mahlangu’s early influences range from Charlie Parker, Abdullah Ibrahim, Barney Rachabane, Kenny Garrett, Benjamin Dube, Arthur Mafokate, Donny & Lala Hathaway but to name a few. It is due to this broad palette of musical tastes that Mahlangu has developed into a versatile and well-rounded musician.
Nhlanhla Mahlangu has worked with and has been mentored by both the top South African and international jazz greats. He has performed at most of the major festivals in the country including Standard Bank Joy of Jazz, Makhanda (Grahamstown) Jazz festival, Cape Town Jazz Festival but to name a few. During the inaugural Tshwane international big band festival, one of the headliners, the Grammy-nominated Stefon Harris (then Dean of Manhattan School of Music), invited Mahlangu to study in New York based on his stellar performance. By 2017 Nhlanhla Mahlangu had composed a body of multi-discipline work entitled DaniMali which is aimed at narrating the story of an identity of a people during an era of transition. This project produced his debut album entitled DaniMali in 2019. The groundbreaking project did a countrywide tour that packed South Africa’s premier jazz venues to capacity.
Collaborations
Some of the great artists that we had the privilege and honor of collaborating with include Jon Faddis, Feya Faku, Stefon Harris, Dr. James Saltzman, Sean Jones, Don Laka, Dr. Abdullah Ibrahim, Prof. Rufus Reid (USA), Sibongile Khumalo, Dr. Yusef Lateef (USA), Prof Lein Ariel (USA), Barney Rachabane, Themba Mkhize, Andile Yenana, Herbie Tsoaeli, Moss Mogale, Zwelakhe Duma Bell-Le Pere, Victor Masondo, Ringo Madlingozi, Zulu Boy, Skwata Kamp, Victor Masondo, Vusi Mahlasela and Italo Dlamini (Swaziland) but to name a few. We also recorded albums with the likes of: Afrika Mkhize, Mahlatse Matlala, Ayanda Sikade, Feya Faku, Nduduzo Makhathini and Tumi Mogorosi.
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