In the end two winners announced, namely Gally Ngoveni and Siya Charles. Both recently debuted their original songs on Kaya FM’s The Art of Sunday. The show, presented by Brenda Sisane, was the first to air the song titled ‘Kwa Langa’ by Siya Charles (produced by Nduduzo Makhathini) and ‘Mhani Ntsongo’ by Gally Ngoveni (produced by award-winning composer Dr. Sipho Sithole). You can can now listen to or download the newly released singles on Apple Music, Spotify, Deezer, YouTube, Google Play, YouTube Music, iTunes Store and Napster.

Gally and Siya, had the opportunity to perform at the legendary Blue Note Jazz Club in New York during Winter Jazzfest. They also won a record deal with UMG to record and release their respective singles.

Hailing from Cape Town, trombonist Siya Charles wrote her own song, dedicating it to her late grandfather and avid jazz musician Patrick Luvuno Mkumbuzi. The melody and rhythm of ‘Kwa Langa’ is reminiscent of Marabi, a style of township jazz, and its harmony influences are derived from South African gospel and American jazz.

Gally Ngoveni, a bassist from the capital Pretoria, titled his single ‘Mhani Ntsongo’, which reflects the hardships people go through after the death of a parent or guardian. When writing his song, he imagined himself walking in a person’s shoes who was mistreated by family and having nowhere to go.

Both are not only now set to perform at New York’s world-famous Blue Note Jazz Club during the NYC Winter JazzFest in January 2019, but are also set for lucrative recording deals with Universal Music Group (UMG).

“Music creates connections and brings people together, as does Emirates. Both music and travel cross borders and unite individuals all over the world, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity or culture. Siya and Gally‘s talents are exceptional, and we are thrilled to be taking both of them to New York, for a performance of a lifetime,” said Fouad Caunhye, Regional Manager, Emirates Southern Africa

Emirates Pursuit of Jazz, a collaboration between Emirates Airlines, UMG and Kaya FM, was announced back in August. Thatch Music began the national wide talent hunt to discover South Africa’s most talented jazz musician. Judges Brenda Sisane – broadcaster and social entrepreneur; Sipho Dlamini – Managing Director (MD) of UMG; and Nduduzo Makhathini – Winner of a SA Music Award (Best Jazz Album) and Standard Bank’s Young Artist Award (2015) further shortlisted the talent as the competition progressed.

“While we as a country are no strangers to music competitions, Emirates Pursuit of Jazz presented us with a rare opportunity to find talented musicians of a legacy genre that has shaped the music scene for over a century. We believe Gally and Siya are the best people to represent South Africa’s rich jazz scene both locally, and abroad and we look forward to working with the pair on the single.” added Lebo Kgothadi, Brands and Partnerships Manager, UMG

A fantastic experience which we are grateful to have been a part of with all our thanks going to Emirates Airlines. We can’t wait to see what both Gally and Siya do, one thing is for sure they are both fantastic musicians. We wish them all the best going forward.