Ayanda Sikade Umakhulu

• Ayanda Sikade – Mdantsane
• Ayanda Sikade – Izzah
• Ayanda Sikade – Space Ship
• Ayanda Sikade – Amawethu
• Ayanda Sikade – Imithandazo Yeengelosi
• Ayanda Sikade – Nxarhuni River
• Ayanda Sikade – Umakhulu
• Ayanda Sikade – Enkumbeni
• Ayanda Sikade – Gaba

• 1. Mdantsane
• 2. Izzah
• 3. Space Ship
• 4. Amawethu
• 5. Imithandazo Yeengelosi
• 6. Nxarhuni River
• 7. Umakhulu
• 8. Enkumbeni
• 9. Gaba

Born in 1981 in Mdantsane in the Eastern Cape, Ayanda Sikade is one of South African jazz’s most in-demand and respected drummers, a familiar face on the scene for years and a driving force behind its growing prominence on the world stage.

Dedicated to his grandmother who raised him, Sikade’s long-awaited sophomore album as a bandleader, Umakhulu, follows his 2018 debut Movements. Recorded in Johannesburg in early 2021, it features the talents of frequent collaborator Nduduzo Makhathini on piano, young Simon Manana on alto sax and Nhlanhla Radebe on bass. The album’s nine tracks, composed and produced by Sikade, pay homage to the artist’s heritage — most noticeably on Mdantsane and Nxarhuni River — while forging onwards to a brave new world on others, like Imithandazo Yeengelosi (Prayer of Angels) and Space Ship.