As the landmark African edition of the Montreux Jazz Festival descends upon the Cape Winelands, all eyes are on the intimate Jazz Village stage where Kyle Shepherd will no doubt present another profoundly lyrical set. JANE MAYNE finds out more.
Noted for textural soundscapes that distil the music of the Cape within the progressive jazz milieu, Shepherd’s light touch is bolstered by phenomenal improvisational forays that fuse his technical command of the piano with an adventurous spirit that journeys to the ‘otherworld’.
Since the release his fineART debut album in 2009, he has established himself not only as a unique talent, but as a bridge-builder modernising local jazz traditions while elevating the country’s profile in global film and theatre. All this has been validated by awards such as a Standard Bank Young Artist Award (2014), a UNISA National Piano Competition win in 2015, and a Laurence Olivier Award (2023) as co-composer for William Kentridge’s Waiting for the Sibyl.
With his aesthetic is deeply rooted in the sounds of the Cape, he incorporates influences from Malay choirs, ghoema and Islamic calls to prayer, with Xhosa bow music and Khoi-San chants. These nuances he’s explored across eight albums, including A Portrait of Home and South African History! X.
The Kyle Shepherd Trio
In trio format he is mostly flanked by sidemen Jonno Sweetman on drums and Shane Cooper on bass; however his showing at Montreux Jazz Festival Franschhoek on Saturday, 28 March, 2026, will see Benjamin Jephta stand in on bass. He says: “I’ve known Benjamin since he was still in high school, and he’s one of the most talented musicians around, and someone that I really appreciate playing with. So, I feel like he’s going to slot in absolutely naturally.”
“Myself, Shane and Jonno have been playing together since 2008, which is a very long time for any group to stay together. We had some years where we didn’t do much work together, but since we released our latest album A Dance More Sweetly Played at the end of 2024, we’ve been working consistently together and have grown a really nice audience that we can count on and that come through for us.”
In terms of the Montreux playlist, he shares that the trio will play material from their newer album: “It’s more compositional based, but of course we’re playing jazz so there’s quite a lot of improvisation. Our new album has 12 tracks, of which I’ve written 10. And for the first time, we actually covered. We do my arrangement of a Massive Attack song (Teardrop) and another cover. So, the repertoire is varied in style, but it’s grounded in our South African jazz roots.”
Did Jonno and Shane contribute to the final idea of Teardrop? “Yes, I think they would be a big reason why I even thought of arranging the tune, because with my upbringing as a Capetonian, with my cultural background, we never really grew up listening to rock, or alternate electronic music, or whatever genre is attached to a song like Teardrop. Maybe some people might even call it trip hop. But through my years playing with Shane and Jonno and also spending a lot of time with them on the road, you have conversations, and I’ve always been interested in any musician that I meet. I’m interested in their background and what music they grew up listening to, or even studying and learning, because the sum of all of that becomes the whole of the musician that you are. And so, a lot of rock music came up in the conversation.”
“Now of course my ear is tuned differently because I then went to listen to all of these groups that they were talking about; not only rock, lots of electronica and so on. And then it really just came down to Teardrop, as it’s such a great tune and so lovely to play as a pianist. It all came together very informally. We were at a sound check on tour somewhere and we were fiddling around with the tune, and then we decided to play it that night. It went down really well and we haven’t stopped playing it.
Less is definitely more
Shepherd’s pensive, minimalist approach lends much weight to his work – how does he create colour while still embedding that in an expanded space? “Well, I’m a consistent fighter against overplaying and not wasting too many notes. I think many musicians, especially as you get older and deeper into the music, realize how almost valuable every note is, but still how easy it is to get into overplaying. So that’s an everyday battle that I continue to fight. But other than that, I always try to think of my right hand when I’m playing phrases as to try and get it as close to what a singer would sound like as possible. I think singing is easily the most natural instrument because breath is involved, and your body is involved, and you phrase things very naturally because that’s about the only way you could do it. I’m always trying to be more melodic with my phrases. In my practice it’s a never-ending journey into what is the perfect approach to a phrase – and hopefully I can answer that question someday!”
Is his engagement during improvisation conscious, or an unknown unfolding? “When the spirit of the music is really moving and it’s this highly charged sort of energy between myself and the musicians, the joy of that situation is that the heart takes over in importance from the brain. In a sense you go into a kind of no-mind state – some people call it a flow state. But definitely everything you’re doing in that moment you can trust to sort of let go from your attachment to thinking about, because you’ve done your preparation in your personal practice. So, it’s about respecting scales, patterns, chords, and voicings.”
“I think respecting is a good way to think about it, because that is the foundation of the music. Because I often get so busy as a film composer that every day I try and force myself to play my chromatic scales, and my right-hand, left-hand unison scale patterns. Even if it’s 50 minutes a day if I’m busy with a big score, then that’s about all I can carve out for piano practice. But it comes down to that kind of respect for the basics. It’s so strange how, as I’m getting a little bit older and more experienced in the music how much more I respect those basics. But when we get on the stage, and when the flow is there, and the energy of the music takes over, then it’s time to not think about that as much, and only just be present in what’s happening in the energy and listening to what all the band mates are doing in the in that moment.”
To date, he has released eight albums and composed for various film and television projects. These include Noem My Skollie (SA’s 2017 Oscar entry) and Netflix hits like Blood & Water and Unseen. His cinematic style is well-suited to the genre. “Yes, I would say when I’m writing for film, it’s sort of a lot less – I mean, my voice is buried deep within it. But I finally understood after a couple of years of doing films what it really means to be part of the storytelling. I think, these words are important – ‘to be part of’. I’ve written scores that are in many different genres so I do my best to tell the story, and also because I play so many things in my scores, not only the piano but different instruments and different sound experiments there’s definitely my personality and musical DNA deep within there, but at the same time always telling the story.”
Journey to Jazz Festival in Prince Albert
“With the William Kentridge films, that’s more of an opportunity for me to be a lot more self-expressive and experimental. For the four Kentridge films and my live score that will be played at the Journey to Jazz Festival in May in Prince Albert, I’m still in the process of writing the material for that and ironing out exactly what my ideas are for that piece – it will be part composed and part improvised. It’s a score that coexists with four absolutely beautiful films by William – and I look forward to what will come of that.”
Shepherd clearly values keeping the role of long-form solo improvisation alive, citing Abdullah Ibrahim and Keith Jarret as influences. He says: “Well, we live in a world of 30 second videos – a scrolling society where things are coming at us very fast and in short form. But I think it comes back to storytelling, and what I enjoy about long-form is that it’s more akin to a novel or a Christopher Nolan or Denis Villeneuve movie, where it’s long and narratively detailed – lots of subplots, subtext. I’ve always loved that about Abdullah Ibrahim, especially his solo work, and also Keith Jarret’s solo work, where they take the time to explore all these narrative angles and somehow the first moment is connected to the last. Personally, I enjoy listening to musicians who can take you on that journey over a longer time.”
See all the Montreux Jazz Festival Franschhoek acts here.
What: Montreux Jazz Festival Franschhoek (MJFSA)
When is the Montreux Franschhoek Festival: 27 – 29 March 2026
Where: Franschhoek, Western Cape, South Africa
Website: http://www.mjfsa.com/
Instagram: @mjffranschhoek
Facebook: Montreux Jazz Festival Franschhoek
X (Twitter): @mjffranschhoek
TikTok: @montreuxjazzfestivalsa
WS
