Tumi Mogorosi - Thank You For Your Service

Tumi Mogorosi, drums, Massimo Imperatore, guitar; Tomos Dylan, bass; Alice Leggett, alto saxophone; Josiah Woodson, trumpet

Percussionist and composer Tumi Mogorosi has long been a leading figure on South Africa’s thriving creative music scene. He has played drums with several boundary-pushing groups, including the celebrated Shabaka and The Ancestors, the band with which he wowed audiences at the Jazz Festival Ljubljana nine years ago, and the avant-garde noise group The Wretched. The Cankarjevi Torki concert will feature Mogorosi as the leader of a quintet that explores musical motifs and improvisational solutions through modal grooves anchored in spiritual jazz and hard bop, in pursuit of a sound that celebrates collective expression.

His third studio album, Thank You For Your Service, stands as a dedication to the ‘Rebel’ archetype within the Black Radical Tradition – both historical and mythical figures who committed their lives to the emancipation of Black communities across the diaspora. This powerful music serves as a reminder of the enduring significance of radical action for freedom, a sentiment of profound resonance in our present moment.