After a 20-year hiatus, South African jazz visionary Andile Yenana returns with a profound new album titled WAY OUT IS IN via We Want More. The project marks a meditative and masterful evolution of Yenana’s sound, recorded live at The Bird’s Eye Jazz Club in Basel, Switzerland, during a three-day session.
The album’s creation was deeply introspective. Yenana explains that he needed time to shed what no longer aligned and to rediscover his voice through quiet reflection and cultural reconnection. Returning to the Xhosa folk songs of his youth, he reimagined them through his piano, infusing tradition with modern improvisation. WAY OUT IS IN stands as a culmination of these explorations, a sonic conversation between past and present, Africa and the world.
A collaborative effort between South African and Norwegian musicians, the project extends Yenana’s long-standing relationship with cross-cultural jazz dialogue, dating back to his early music exchange programs alongside Zim Ngqawana. The result is a spiritually charged, globally resonant record that invites listeners to explore their own inner landscapes.
WAY OUT IS IN is both a journey and an offering of music that moves beyond sound to become meditation. The lead single, “Itshoba Lenkomo”, captures the essence of that journey: rooted in tradition, yet forward-looking and free.
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