Sipho Kunene

Biography

Sipho Kunene was born in Cape Town, South Africa and now calls New York City home. He has lent his drumming skills to a diverse assortment of musical situations over the course of his career. Sipho spent many years with rising star keyboard phenom Matthew Whitaker’s Trio. The group has done many European tours as well as trips to Australia, Indonesia and Canada performing at various jazz clubs, concerts, and festivals. Some festivals performed are the Java Jazz Festival in Jakarta, Indonesia, the Montreal Jazz Festival, Playboy Jazz Festival at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, Atlanta Jazz Festival and many others both domestically and internationally. For one and a half years Sipho performed with the great South African pianist Abdullah Ibrahim, (formerly known as Dollar Brand), as a part of the Abdullah Ibrahim Trio. A live CD, “African Magic”, was recorded in Berlin, Germany for the Enja Record label. On occasion the trio's performance was embellished with orchestra to perform Ibrahim's "African Suite". "African Suite" performances included accompaniment by the Orchestra National de Lyon in Lyon, France and the Verdi Chamber Orchestra in Milan, Italy among others. Sipho has also toured extensively with legendary South African trumpeter and pioneer Hugh Masekela doing concerts, clubs and jazz festivals both in the USA and abroad. Sipho can be heard on the title cut of the Hugh Masekela CD "Uptownship"on RCA Records. He was also drummer for “Three Mo’ Tenors” for a two year block.