Keenan Ahrends is a Johannesburg-based jazz guitarist and composer. He began playing at fifteen and later completed his jazz performance degree at the University of Cape Town and the Norwegian Academy of Music, followed by an honours degree at the University of the Witwatersrand, where he researched the life and music of Errol Dyers. Ahrends has studied with prominent musicians, including Jon Eberson, Wayne Bosch, Alvin Dyers, and Andrew Lilly, and in 2021 was awarded a Pro Helvetia residency in Basel, Switzerland, where he spent three months composing, performing, and recording.
Ahrends has toured widely in South Africa and abroad, performing with leading artists such as Louis Moholo, Feya Faku, Thandi Ntuli, Carlo Mombelli, Andile Yenana, and SOMI. He has appeared at major festivals and venues including the Cape Town International Jazz Festival, Joy of Jazz, Amersfoort Jazz Festival, Birds Eye Jazz Club, Offbeat Jazz Festival, and events in eSwatini, Mozambique, Norway, Sweden, Nigeria, and Réunion Island. His acclaimed albums Narrative (2017) and Perseverance: Live at the Bird’s Eye (2022) showcase his evocative writing and emotive improvisation, with his compositions featured across numerous ensembles and recordings.