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More than performance: For Judith Sephuma, singing in her mother tongue, Sepedi, is not just an artistic choice; it\u2019s an emotional one. Photo: Supplied<\/p>\n
The first thing Judith Sephuma tells me is that she hasn\u2019t really stopped moving.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re speaking in the aftermath of yet another busy weekend of performances, the kind that have defined much of her life for more than two decades. And even now, with a new album out, her calendar is shaped by the stage rather than the studio.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have been performing,\u201d she says, her voice warm, measured, familiar. \u201cBut not for the album.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a curious thing to hear from an artist who, in 2025, released When Winter Fades<\/em>, her latest body of work and her first in five years. But Sephuma is deliberate about how she introduces new music into the world.<\/p>\n \u201cWhenever an album is released, I believe it\u2019s very important to create a space where people can come and listen,\u201d she explains. \u201cBecause you are introducing the new music to them. We don\u2019t take for granted It\u2019s a statement that reveals as much about her humility as it does about her philosophy. Often described as the queen of Afro jazz, with a career that has spanned continents and earned her multiplatinum success, Sephuma approaches her audience as something to be nurtured, not assumed.<\/p>\n \u201cI love live performances so much,\u201d she continues, \u201cthat I create a space for them to come sit down and listen to the music and then they can connect with it.\u201d<\/p>\n That space, for When Winter Fades<\/em>, is still to come: a live concert set for 4 July at Emperors Palace, where she will perform the album with her full band. It\u2019s a moment she speaks about with anticipation.<\/p>\n To understand why that moment matters so much, you have to consider the scale of what Sephuma Since the release of her debut album A Cry, A Smile, A Dance<\/em> in 2001, a triple platinum landmark that introduced her voice to the world, she has remained one of South Africa\u2019s most enduring and influential musicians.\u00a0<\/p>\n Her sound, a seamless blend of jazz, Afro-soul and gospel, has travelled far beyond the country\u2019s borders, filling venues across Europe, the US and the UK.<\/p>\n Long before that debut, she was stepping onto significant stages. In 1999, she performed at Thabo Mbeki\u2019s presidential inauguration and sang for Nelson Mandela, moments that would come to By 2002, she was performing at the North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands alongside global icons, her voice carrying the weight of something much larger than a Over the years, she has shared stages with artists like Chaka Khan, Al Jarreau and Kenny G, while carving out her own path through albums that move fluidly between genres. Her gospel work, particularly The Experience Live in Concert and Power of Dreams<\/em>, expanded her reach even further, revealing an artist unbound by category.<\/p>\n The five-year gap between Power of Dreams<\/em> (2019) and When Winter Fades<\/em> (2025) might suggest a pause but Sephuma resists that framing. \u201cThere\u2019s no particular reason for For her, this is the rhythm of a jazz artist\u2019s life, less dictated by release cycles and more by the organic flow of creativity and experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of the times when the schedule is really busy, we don\u2019t have time to think about the album,\u201d she explains. \u201cAnd we are never under pressure to keep releasing because we release full albums.\u201d<\/p>\n Those years were not quiet. They were filled with movement: touring across Europe and Dubai and most notably, working with Hans Zimmer on a global orchestral production. \u201cIt was the best experience ever,\u201d she says, her voice lifting slightly. \u201cLife-changing. We had 36 shows. We went everywhere. I think I know all of Europe now.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s hard to imagine what that kind of exposure does to an artist. The scale of orchestras, the immersion in cinematic sound, the constant movement across cities and cultures. But Sephuma carries it back into her own work as texture. \u201cI\u2019ve been doing a lot of orchestra work,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s what I\u2019m used to. Live band, big bands, orchestras. That\u2019s what I come from.\u201d<\/p>\n When she finally returned to writing, it wasn\u2019t with a sense of urgency but with something closer to instinct. \u201cI wrote some of the songs when I was on tour,\u201d she says. \u201cThen I came back, I started working on them very seriously. There was this need for me to record the album.\u201d<\/p>\n When Winter Fades<\/em> was recorded live in studio with her full band, the only way she knows how. \u201cThat\u2019s the only way I record,\u201d she says. \u201cThat\u2019s the best way to record for us, especially for jazz. We like that personal touch. When we come together and play the music, we feel connected to it better.\u201d<\/p>\n That sense of connection runs through the album\u2019s central idea, captured most clearly in its lead single, Back to Love<\/em>. \u201cBack to Love<\/em> reminded me of A Cry, A Smile, A Dance<\/em>,\u201d she reflects. \u201cI realised I had missed that sound.\u201d<\/p>\n For Sephuma, that return is also linguistic and cultural. Singing in her mother tongue, Sepedi, is not just an artistic choice; it\u2019s an emotional one. \u201cI love singing in my mother tongue,\u201d she says, her voice softening. \u201cI can\u2019t wait for people to sing along. That\u2019s going to excite me the most.\u201d<\/p>\n There is a moment on the album that reaches even further back, beyond her own catalogue, into the lineage of South African music itself.<\/p>\n Her tribute to Miriam Makeba isn\u2019t framed as homage in the conventional sense. It\u2019s something She recalls encountering Makeba\u2019s music as a young singer, drawn first to its melody, then to its meaning. \u201cShe represented Africa,\u201d she says. \u201cShe will forever remind us of the uniqueness and how precious we are as Africans.\u201d<\/p>\n The tribute track emerged organically in the studio, carried by a rhythm that felt unmistakably rooted in the continent. \u201cWe were just in the studio and then Makeba came out,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was to remind ourselves of how precious she was and the legacy that she left us.\u201d<\/p>\n The word \u201clegacy\u201d comes up often in our conversation, not as an abstract idea but as something urgent and unfinished. \u201cYou know, in South Africa, when we pass on our music stops being played enough on the radio,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s almost like we fade.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s a quiet observation but it carries weight. For her, the work of an artist does not end with the creation of music; it extends into how that music lives on. \u201cI would like all our legacies to remain,\u201d she says. \u201cEven if it means it\u2019s being heard on the radio or talked about. Because we save lives with our music.\u201d<\/p>\n She pauses, then continues, more emphatically: \u201cOur legacy cannot just die when we die.\u201d What she envisions goes beyond remembrance to continuity. Music that continues to teach, to shape and to guide future generations.<\/p>\n \u201cThe content of our music is building,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s life-changing. It will teach the generation to come about discipline, respecting yourself, respecting others. That\u2019s the legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n It is perhaps this sense of responsibility that complicates the titles often given to her. When I mention the label \u201cqueen of Afro jazz,\u201d she acknowledges it but carefully. \u201cI honour it and I respect it so much,\u201d she says. \u201cBut I don\u2019t want it to limit me.\u201d<\/p>\n For Sephuma, artistry extends beyond genre, beyond recognition, into something closer to service. \u201cWe are life changers,\u201d she says. \u201cThere are young girls, young boys who It\u2019s a striking phrase but she delivers it without theatrics, as though stating something obvious. \u201cI believe I am,\u201d she adds. \u201cI mother a lot of kids that I have not even given birth to.\u201d<\/p>\n In her view, music creates a bond of trust, one that carries expectations. \u201cWhen they see me, they trust that I can change their lives,\u201d she says. \u201cSo it goes beyond queening.\u201d<\/p>\n For the moment, Sephuma\u2019s focus is clear: the upcoming live performance of When Winter Fades<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a personal thing for me,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m doing it myself. When they come to my show it\u2019s going to be fireworks. It\u2019s magic.\u201d<\/p>\n In many ways, the word \u201cmagic\u201d feels like the simplest way to describe what Judith Sephuma has sustained over the years.<\/p>\n She has moved through eras of South African music, from the early post-apartheid years to the present, carrying with her a voice that remains unmistakable. Soft, melodic, deeply rooted, yet endlessly adaptable.<\/p>\n But perhaps what defines her most is not the sound itself but the intention behind it.<\/p>\n \u201cWe save lives with our music,\u201d It\u2019s a simple statement but it lingers long after the conversation ends. A reminder that for Judith Sephuma, music has never just been about performance.<\/p>\n It is about what remains.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
the fact that people know us. I don\u2019t take for granted the fact that people know me.\u201d<\/p>\n
has built.<\/p>\n
symbolise the beginning of a remarkable journey.\u00a0<\/p>\n
single career.<\/p>\n
the gap,\u201d she says. \u201cI don\u2019t even want to call it a break. I didn\u2019t want to record because I was focusing a lot on performing.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"music](\"https:\/\/mg.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/JudithSephuma2-667x1000.jpg\")
\u00a0more personal. \u201cFor me, her music raised me,\u201d Sephuma says. \u201cShe feels very present.\u201d<\/p>\n
look up to us. We become mothers of the nation.\u201d<\/p>\n
she says.<\/p>\n