Tutu Puoane

JAZZ VOCALIST

Vocalist Tutu Puoane is one of the most prolific and charismatic musical voices to emerge from South Africa in recent years.
Originally from Mamelodi, a township in Pretoria, South Africa, she went to study in the Netherlands in 2002 and since 2004 she has her home in Antwerp, Belgium.  Through notable collaborations with, among others, Brussels Jazz Orchestra, Bert Joris, the Flemish Philharmonic, Metropole Orkest, WDR Big Band and Tineke Postma, she stole many a heart far and wide.

In her home country she won two South African Music Awards, one for her album ‘Quiet Now‘ (2010) and one for ‘Mama Africa‘, as a soloist with the Brussels Jazz Orchestra (2011). In Europe, it was especially with The Joni Mitchell Project (2016), her deeply personal ode to the songs and poetry of the legendary Canadian singer-songwriter, that she sang herself into the hearts of audiences.

In April 2022 she was invited by the WDR Big Band (Germany) for a collaboration with the legendary American bassist/arranger John Clayton, and in the summer of the same year she was one of the soloists with the world-renowned Metropole Orkest conducted by Vince Mendoza during the concert series in honor of the 100th birthday of Belgian harmonica virtuoso Toots Thielemans.

Her name is also growing steadily in the theatre world. She was part of Wim Vandekeybus‘ dance production ‘Speak Low If You Speak Love‘ (2015) and from 2019 she toured internationally with the very successful and much-discussed performance ‘Dear Winnie‘ by KVS (Brussels). She is currently playing the lead role in a new KVS production ‘Mimi’s Shebeen‘ by choreographer Alesandra Seutin, an ode to the iconic South African singer and activist Miriam Makeba.

Since 2019 she’s been working on a double album project based on and dedicated to the powerful poetry of her compatriot Lebo Mashile. The project is called ‘Wrapped In Rhythm‘, and the first volume is produced by Larry Klein and was released in March 2024, with a club tour that highlighted in London (Ronnie Scott’s), Amsterdam (Bimhuis) and Antwerp (De Roma). In August 2024 the album won 3 South African Jazz Awards out of 5 nominations in Soweto, Johnnesburg: Best Contemporary Jazz Album, Best International Jazz Album, and Best Female Artist.

Puoane’s beautiful voice, her intuition, her sense of rhythm and melody, combined with her typical charm and sense of humour on stage, make every concert a unique and unforgettable event. Thanks to her infectious personality, she effortlessly succeeds in convincing music lovers across style boundaries. She makes you laugh, she lets you shed a tear, she makes you sing and dance along: she moves you in every possible way.