This is the second double album released by South African trumpet player/composer Marcus Wyatt's Johannesburg based ZAR Jazz Orchestra.
The group has a very unconventional approach to the big band genre, with a distinctly African and South African flavour. Improvisation is treated in a more 'small band' way, with some of South Africa's finest soloists stretching out here.
You'll hear solos from Sisonke Xonti and Linda Sikhakhane (tenor), Mthunzi Mvubu and Justin Bellairs (alto), Sydney Mavundla, special guest Feya Faku and bandleader Marcus Wyatt (trumpet/flugel), pianist Bokani Dyer, guitarist Aldert Du Toit, and of course vocalists Mihi Matshingana and Zoe Modiga.

Marcus Wyatt's ZAR Jazz Orchestra was founded in 2015, after Marcus Wyatt was approached to perform in the ‘Living Legends’ series by Jazz emprassario and radio icon Ike Phaahla. What followed was a gathering of some of South Africa’s finest young jazz musicians, from all corners of this very dynamic and exciting scene.

The Orchestra was recorded live in front of a capacity audience at M5 Studios SABC (Auckland Park) in January of that year : it was a night to remember, full of emotive playing and standing ovations. ‘One Night in the Sun’ became an instant classic with jazz fans , and the album went on to claim the coveted ‘Best Jazz Album’ at the 2016 South African Music awards (SAMA 22).

"The thoughtful arrangements and the widened palette create a sense of elegance, and the sensation of listening to the songs is one of encountering them in their seasonal fullness. The primal and ethereal connect throughout." Kwanele Sosibo (Mail & Guardian)

In 2017 the group reassembled for the inaugural Tshwane International Big Band Festival, where they performed with South African trumpet icon Feya Faku, Dutch maestro Paul Von Kemenade and the legendary American Jazz icon and shell-man supreme, Steve Turre - the latter's performance being one of the festival's highlights - his response speaks for itself !

"Thanks so much Marcus !
For me, it was BIG FUN ! Last night, the band really started to loosen up and play things in the moment / collectively - things that weren't on the paper ! That's when the real spirit of the music comes forth and I think we all felt it - it's liberating ! Thanks for your friendship and for having a great band. Please give everyone in the band my personal thanks and let them know what a pleasure it was for me to perform with them !
Steve Turre"


in June 2018 ZAR Jazz Orchestra assembled to record it's second album 'Into Dust/Waltz for Jozi' at Johannesburg's famous Orbit Jazz Club. As well as the regular crew, the band featured trumpet legend Feya Faku, and rising star Zoe Modiga on voice - the concerts were sold out standing ovation affairs, and musical magic was created and recorded !

also in 2018, SAMRO approached the group to perform the winning arrangements in their composers edition of the annual Overseas Scholarship/Bursary competition.

'Into Dust/Waltz for Jozi', ZAR Jazz Orchestra's second album, was released in front of an enthusiastic capacity crowd at the 2019 edition of the Standard Bank Makhanda Jazz Festival and has been received with much praise and acclaim thus far.

Another major highlight of 2019 was a performance at the annual Standard Bank Joy of Jazz Festival held in Johannesburg. ZAR Jazz Orchestra opened the festival with a shared performance alongside global jazz icon Wynton Marsalis' Jazz at the Lincoln Centre (big band). Two big bands and close to 40 musicians on stage together delivered an unforgettable night of music to 4000 ecstatic listeners. Truly an epic event for the ages.

Off the back of this performance, the group is currently in negociations to perform in New York at the Jazz at the Lincoln Centre in 2021 as part of a continued partnership between South Africa and the United States.

On the calendar for 2021 is a collaboration with Swiss composer Sarah Chaksad and other Swiss musicians, combining to form a combined ZAR/SWISS Jazz Orchestra that will tour in Switzerland and South Africa, playing compositions and featuring musicians from both countries.

“The big-band jazz ancestors have all breathed on this music. The disciplined unison swing of Griffiths Motsieloa and Peter Rezant, the goema beat of carnival, the counterpoint and call and response in the writing of Mackay Davashe and Tete Mbambisa, Chris Columbus’s incitement to improvise “fowl runs”, the churchy sonorities of Abdullah Ibrahim, and Chris McGregor and Dudu Pukwana’s joyous dissolves into free, all find echoes here. “

Gwen Ansell – Jazz author and journalist