Tutu Puoane

Born in Pretoria, South Africa, but living in Belgium since over 20 years, Tutu Puoane has been building an interesting and independent music career: with her own music and albums and through notable collaborations with Brussels Jazz Orchestra, WDR Big Band, Metropole Orkest, Bert Joris, the Flemish Philharmonic, Bart Peeters and Tineke Postma, she stole hearts of listeners all over the world.

In her home country she won two South African Music Awards, one for her album 'Quiet Now' (2010) and one for 'Mama Africa', a collaboration project with Brussels Jazz Orchestra in honour of South African singer and activist Miriam Makeba (2011).

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.

In March 2024 she released the first volume of 'Wrapped In Rhythm', her project with her own music based on and dedicated to the poetry of her well-known SA compatriot Lebo Mashile. The album won three South African Jazz Awards in August '24.

Its follow-up, 'Wrapped In Rhythm, vol. II' is a coöperation with Metropole Orkest and contains a second collection of songs based on Mashile's poetry. It is due on September 19, 2025.