27th August Hlulani Hlangwane

Hlulani Hlangwane is a South African born jazz singer with a uniquely distinctive voice. Her tone places her squarely in the field of classic jazz divas and her Tsonga heritage gives her a creative and competitive edge among other jazz singers.nnHer career started at an early age of 16 as soon as she enrolled to study contemporary music at the National School of The Arts. Her then vocal coach; R J Benjamin (Award winning vocalist, songwriter, composer and vocal coach) too her under his wing while teaching her music business. R J Benjamin featured Hlulani on his debut album titled Who I Am, Released in 2004.nnWhile she was earning her qualification in Jazz Vocals at the University of Cape Town between 2004- 2006, Hlulani had the opportunity to be the lead vocalist in the prestigious UCT Big Band- Conducted and directed by Associate Professor and convenor of jazz studies, Mike Campbell. The UCT big band also toured nationally doing gigs on stages such as The Cape Town International Jazz Festival as well as the Standard Bank Grahamstown Festival. At this time Hlulani had also formed her own band with names the likes of award-winning pianist Bokani Dyer, Shane Cooper- also an award-winning Bass player and Andre Swarts on Drums. Hlulani’s band did plenty of corporate gigs around Cape Town including and sold out shows at the Baxter Theatre and the Nasau Centre. In 2008, she was selected for Lead Vocals in the Standard Bank National Youth Jazz Band. The band was led and conducted by South African pianist and composer Neil Gonsalves. The band toured nationally performing predominantly original compositions to I wide selection of Jazz purists.nnThe Standard National Youth Jazz Band experience took her to the next step in her career where she shared the stage with world renowned musicians such as RnB American singer Joe, The Spinners, Judith Sephuma, Jimmy Dludlu, and Hugh Masekela. Returning from her three-month Vietnam tour in 2009- 2020, she has performed with the likes of Herbie Tsoaeli, Ayanda Sikade, Lucas Senyatso, Mlungisi Gegana and Nduduzo Makhathini to name a few. The music journey in Johannesburg led Hlulani to be heard by one of the most influential musicians in the country, Themba Mkhize. Themba Mkhize became somewhat of a mentor to Hlulani as he contributed to her international travel experience while putting her on stages with the SWR Big Band alongside Siya Makhizeni and vocal acapella group, iComplete.