Kesivan Naidoo’s music has been hailed by critics as “majestic playing, mind-blowing listening” and “the birth of a new South African jazz sound”. Born in 1979 in East London, South Africa, he was among the first POC students in a formerly white school. He fell in love with jazz at 10 and began performing professionally at 14. A “freedom child,” he used music to celebrate South Africa’s hard-won liberation. His sound blends improvisation, expression, and deep listening.
Over 25 years, Kesivan has performed worldwide with jazz greats like Dave Liebman, Danilo Perez, Joe Lovano, Maria Schneider, Miriam Makeba, Zim Ngqawana, and Winston Mankunku. He has played in diverse groups, including Tribe (traditional jazz), Golliwog (funk), Closet Snare (electronic jazz), and Beat Bag Bohemia (Swiss-South African drumming collective).
A University of Cape Town graduate, he won the SAMRO Overseas Scholarship in 2000, studying under Prof. Sanjoy Bandopadhyay in India. He also composed for films, winning a SAFTA in 2001. In 2009, he was named South Africa’s Standard Bank Young Artist of the Year. His 2010 album Instigators of the Revolution of his band Kesivan and The Lights was nominated for a SAMA.
In 2011, he co-founded Cape Town’s most successful jazz club Straight No Chaser, later recognized as one of the world’s top 150 jazz venues by Down Beat Magazine. In 2014, Kesivan and The Lights performed at Carnegie Hall. He earned a Master’s from Berklee College of Music in 2016 and after some years in NYC, he now resides in Basel, Switzerland. In 2022, he arranged and premiered a big band project with the Swiss Jazz Orchestra, touring South Africa with a diverse, internaitonal big band in 2023. Later that year, he arranged Amapiano tunes for big band, performing with famous artists Boohle and Ch’cco in South Africa. Since 2009, he has been an endorsee of Zildjian cymbals.
Kesivan Naidoo
Kesivan & The Lights
