About us

THE SOLIDARITY EXPRESS

Click on an image for a brief biography!

Phil Manzanera (UK)

Phil Manzanera is an English musician and record producer who was born in London and spent most of his childhood in Latin America. He was lead guitarist of Roxy Music who released a series of internationally best-selling albums, achieving ten UK Top Ten albums and touring extensively throughout the world. The band were inducted into the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame in 2019. In 2006 he co-produced David Gilmour's album “On an Island” and played in Gilmour's band for tours in Europe and America. Together with Gilmour, he co-produced Pink Floyd’s final album “The Endless River”. Manzanera has always pursued many diverse solo projects as well as writing and presenting a series of 14 one-hour radio programmes for Station Planet Rock entitled the A-Z of Great Guitarists, and in 2015 directed the final concert of the Notte della Taranta Festival, in Salento, Italy. Together with Roxy Music’s Andy Mackay, he has just released ‘Roxymphony”, a CD/DVD of classic Roxy songs reimagined with orchestra and choir. Phil co-produced “The Liberation Project” album “Songs That Made Us Free” and performed with the band on their Italian tour in 2019.

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PHIL MANZANERA

Dan Chiorboli (SOUTH AFRICA)

Dan Chiorboli percussionist and producer born in Ferrara, Italy and raised in Durban, South Africa, has performed and collaborated with musicians from all over the world and has worked on over 200 vastly diverse albums. He has directed and performed in three successful musical revues exploring his beloved Latin and Brazilian themes. He is also the founder of the pioneering Awesome Africa Festival, a conceptualiser and producer of events, the originator and driving force behind The Liberation Project and The Solidarity Express and serves as a Global Ambassador for Project Rhino.

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Dan Chiorboli

N'Faly Kouyate (Guinea)

A member of the Mandinka ethnic group of griots from Guinea, West Africa, N’Faly has become known as the “Jimi Hendrix of the kora” but is also a revered singer and balafon player. His group, The Afro Celt Sound System blends West African and Irish music styles and has released six albums, incorporating luminaries such as Peter Gabriel, Sinead O’ Connor and Robert Plant amongst others. N’Faly has a successful solo career and contributed to “The Liberation Project” album “Songs That Made Us Free” as well as touring with the band in Italy in 2019.

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N'FALY KOUYATE

Andre Kriel (South Africa)

South African born singer, guitarist, songwriter and founder of the much-celebrated blues/rock group The Black Cat Bones. The Bones have released 4 original albums and won several awards, including the MK Best Live Act award. As a solo artist, Andre’s songs speak about forgotten heroes, men with grit and women with bad intent. Andre’s ability to adopt and embrace a vast array of styles and genres allow him to fit seamlessly into The Solidarity Express, where he also plays the role of co-producer.  

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ANDRE KRIEL

Tebogo “AusTebza” Sedumedi (SOUTH AFRICA)

Brought up in Mafikeng, Tebogo joined the Mmabana Cultural Centre at a young age and went on to form Deeva, an all-girl band which became very popular and became the late HHP’s backing band. With her solo career, she has released a single called Going Home and followed it up with a full album entitled Make a Difference. Her new album “Motheo” is destined to take her to even greater heights. Tebz’s live highlights have included a successful tour of Italy with The Liberation Project and performances at the Cape Town International Jazz Festival and the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz.  

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Tebogo “AusTebza” Sedumedi

Peter Djamba (Democratic Republic of the Congo)

Peter is a Congolese drummer born in Kinshasa into a musical family, who started playing drums and singing in the church from the age of nine years old. Due to his broad knowledge and interpretations of African rhythms, Peter is one of the most prominent session drummers in South Africa and has worked with many international artists such as Oliver Mtukudzi (Zimbabwe), Dr Tumi and Fred Hammond (USA). He was part of The Liberation Project’s tour of Italy, where the Italians reverently gave him the nickname “Machina di Guerra” loosely translated as “Machine of War” due to his driving rhythms and powerful playing.

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Peter Djamba

Femi Koya (Nigeria)

Femi’s story of migration from the West to the South resonates in his music and creates a conscious dialogue between West African and South African sounds. This fusion demonstrates the path to a culturally integrated Africa in which a common heritage is reinforced to meet the needs of today’s world. His quest is for African unity at a time when he believes Africa should claim its rightful place in the world. As a vocalist and saxophone player, his musical influences include Fela Kuti, Bob Marley and Manu Dibango and he has shared the stage with Youssou N’Dour, John Legend and King Sunny Ade.

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Femi Koya

Justin Sasman (South Africa)

One of South Africa’s most sought-after trombone players and brass arrangers, Justin is a lecturer at the NWU School of Music in Potchefstroom with a BMus Honours in Jazz Performance. He is an active educator, performer and multi-instrumental recording artist on the trombone, trumpet, accordion, euphonium and tuba. Justin performs live in many different genres and in many differing ensemble settings, the best known being the Afro-Balkan group “Bombshelter Beast”.  

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Justin Sasman

Black Moses Ngwenya (South Africa)

The legendary co-founder of the pioneers of mbaqanga, The Soul Brothers, has been a musician all his life. Moses has created an entirely unique style on his Hammond organ, a sound rooted in traditional African rhythms and influenced by American jazz and soul. For over four decades and more than forty album releases, The Soul Brothers have sailed the turbulent musical waters and refused to be corroded by the tragedies, the highs and lows that they faced in their musical journey including political threats from the then apartheid government.

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Black Moses Ngwenya

Neo Motsatse (South Africa)

Widely considered as a child prodigy, Neo is a young female violinist with a great future. Despite the violin’s unpopularity amongst young people because of its classical genre Neo has mastered its art and has since taken to the stage with the likes of icons Sibongile Khumalo, Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse and maestro Sergio Zampolli. Part of the enlightened new breed of South African youth, Neo is home-schooled, independent, talented and ambitious. She is excited about exploring a wide range of musical styles, and The Solidarity Express’s broad musical palette suits her perfectly.

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Neo Motsatse

Tamani Mbeya (Malawi)

One of Malawi’s rising young stars, Tamani loves singing in a variety of musical styles, but lists gospel and afro-soul as her favourites. An emerging talent destined for great things, she is a qualified voice teacher with a music degree from Wits University and is beginning to make waves as an in-demand studio session singer.

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Tamani Mbeya

John Lindemann (South Africa)

Highly respected and revered, John is a producer and Grammy Award winning engineer who was behind the sound of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Mahlatini & The Mahotella Queens, The African Jazz Pioneers, West Nkosi, Karen Zoid and many others. He has also been involved in the design and construction of many music / audio post studios and runs his own JSL Studios in Johannesburg. He is involved in the production and engineering of Radio Ubuntu together with Phil Manzanera, Dan Chiorboli & Andre Kriel.

Band Members
John Lindemann

Mpho Koopedi (SOUTH AFRICA)

Mpho is a young up and coming music director, pianist and vocalist who started his musical journey at the tender age of 10 when he learnt how to play the piano by ear and started singing in his church. A member of the popular eclectic soul group The Muffinz, some of his recent projects include The Jazz Assassins, Just 6 acapella sextet, Sound of Blessed Voices, acting as musical director in the Grace Point church and lending his organisational talents to the Siyanqoba drug awareness campaign. He is currently endorsed by Casio South Africa. 

Mpho Koopedi
Mpho Koopedi

Ann Masina (SOUTH AFRICA)

A versatile, talented and formidable woman who sings classical, gospel and jazz with great aplomb, she began her career as a soloist in the Africa Sings Choral Choir in 1994 and went on to perform in operas such as Carmen and Aida to great acclaim. Ann was a member of the Soweto Gospel Choir and has been part of William Kentridge's international touring productions Refuse The Hour, Paper Music, Triumph and Laments and The Head & The Load. Most recently, she acted and sang in the play Venus Hottentot vs. Modernity which tells the story of Saartjie Baartman.

Ann Masina
Ann Masina

Sibusiso "Jack Lerole Jnr" Lerole (SOUTH AFRICA)

Born in Soweto, Sibusiso started playing the penny whistle at the age of 12 mentored by his father Big Voice Jack Lerole, the kwela legend who co-founded Mango Groove. He has shared stages with many of the greats of South African music and contributed the song Lerole Special for the film Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. The music which became known as kwela in the 1950’s was one of the first indigenous popular music genres from South Africa to enjoy commercial and international success. Influenced by blues, jazz and swing, it generated significant cross-racial appeal but sadly the genre seems to have fallen off the radar in the last few decades. However, Lerole is in the forefront of the movement to establish its rightful place in South Africa’s musical tapestry.

Cindy Alter
Sibusiso Lerole

The Solidarity Express is a group of musicians collaborating to deliver a message of hope and unity to the world at large.
Music is a constant emotively evolving art that feeds the mind, heart and soul. It continues to play a key role in driving change and creating social cohesion and harmony. Music allows cross cultural collaboration and provides a voice for the powerless. The intention is to convey positive energy to a world in desperate need of healing and aims to spread a feel-good solidarity factor.

Following on from The Liberation Project and with the core group based in South Africa, this high energy, multi-genre and multi-cultural musical offering focuses on sending a positive message of reconciliation and goodwill with like-minded artists and nations around the world.

Special Guest Collaborators

Cisco Bellotti (Italy)

Cisco’s early interest in the Celtic influenced music of The Pogues would chart his course in music for life. In 1991, he joined The Modena City Ramblers, a politically conscious group who stirred leftist sentiments aligned to the partisan resistance. The group went on to sell over 500,000 albums. In 2005, Cisco pursued a solo career which has been well received by the international community. Cisco was part of The Liberation Project’s successful tour of Italy in 2019 and featured on the Songs That Made Us Free album

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CISCO BELLOTTI

Kobus de Kock Jnr. (SOUTH AFRICA)

The vocalist and co-founder of The Black Cat Bones was born in Eshowe in Zululand but brought up on the tough streets of Pretoria. One of the most emotive and dynamic frontmen and storytellers in South Africa, Kobus was originally inspired by raw Mississippi blues, the New Orleans bayou and various rock and folk genres. The diverse make-up of musicians in The Solidarity Express provides him the opportunity to allow his restless spirit to explore different musical landscapes.   

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KOBUS DE KOCK JNR.

Keeran Eshwarlall (SOUTH AFRICA)

Keeran specialises in singing Bhajans (Devotional poetry), Gazals (Romantic poetry), Qawalis (Urdu poetry), Sufi songs & the odd Bhojpuri song whilst accompanying himself on harmonium, guitar, santoor and shai baja. In 1993, Keeran went to Bombay to learn under the guidance of his Guru, Shri Anup Jalota and from 2005 based himself in London. He has travelled all over the sub-continent to perform with many Indian musical icons and collaborated on a documentary with Anup Jalota for Channel S TV, a UK Bengali Television Channel.

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Keeran Eshwarlall

Moussa Diallo (Denmark/Mali)

Danish Malian bass player, singer, composer and story teller Moussa Diallo has in recent years released a number of albums, but also worked very much with children, especially in Africa where he has a close affinity with the country of his birth. He has received several awards during his illustrious career, such as the World Track of the Year at the Danish Music Awards in 2011, the Special Award by the Danish Composers and Songwriters Association in 2018 and the Denmark Music Associations Folk/World for "World musician/singer of the year" in 2019.

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MOUSSA DIALLO

Michel Herrera (CUBA)

Michel Herrera is one of the new young breed of Cuban saxophone players who is not afraid to explore new musical territories and is currently setting the Cuban music scene alight. Michel works with many different ensembles including his regular all-star touring group Madre Tierra. His music digs deep, from traditional son and montuno styles through to salsa-jazz dance grooves and cutting-edge bebop. 

Michel Herrera
Michel Herrera

Jovanotti (Italy)

Jovanotti (born Lorenzo Cherubini) is an Italian singer-songwriter and rapper who gradually departed from his early mix of hip hop, rap and disco, taking in funk, world music, ska and classical (even appearing with Pavarotti) influences. As his musical tastes evolved, so his lyrics did too, which over time began to increasingly address social, philosophical, religious and political issues. He has received numerous awards and is one the biggest selling artists in Italy. Jovanotti has frequently worked with organizations such as Make Poverty History and Amnesty International, and has collaborated with Bono in their mutual quest for the cancellation of foreign debt in poor African countries. Here he sings and raps on his own song 'Viva la Liberta'.

Jovanotti
Jovanotti

Bakithi Kumalo (SOUTH AFRICA/USA)

Bakithi Kumalo is a South African born bassist, composer, and vocalist, most known for his fretless bass playing on Paul Simon's 1986 album Graceland. He was born in the Soweto township of Johannesburg and has toured regularly with Simon since then and has released several solo records, and continued to perform as a session musician with artists such as Joan Baez, Cyndi Lauper, Herbie Hancock, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Randy Brecker and Grover Washington Jr. Paul Simon has described Kumalo's sound as "enormous, almost like a horn, but so primal." Bakithi is passionate about helping children from disadvantaged backgrounds. For this project he has contributed one of his original songs about yearning for his homeland and also plays bass on a number of others.

Bakithi Kumalo
Bakithi Kumalo

Vimbai Zimuto (Zimbabwe/Netherlands)

Born in Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe, Vimbai started singing and playing the mbira at the age of 12 and went on to travel the world with Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi. She is now based in the Netherlands and performs mostly around Europe and in neighbouring Belgium and Germany. She is passionately committed to community work, transformation and positive youth development through popular youth culture. For this album, she contributes her extraordinary vocal and mbira talents to “The Spiritual World” and a special dedication to Oliver Mtukudzi.

Vimbai Zimuto
Vimbai Zimuto

David “Qadasi” Jenkins (South Africa)

Qadasi is an accomplished maskandi guitarist, concertina, banjo player and vocalist who developed a deep passion for Zulu culture and music at a young age while travelling through Zululand with his late father and as a result, his love for traditional Zulu music was born. With two solo albums and a collaborative release featuring friend and highly respected Maskandi artist, Maqhinga Radebe, Qadasi’s quest to revive traditional Zulu Maskandi music is well underway. His two solo albums, Child of Africa (2011) and Uhambo Olusha (2014) encapsulate influences from many of his idols, ranging from the likes of Phuzekhemisi and Mfaz’ Omnyama to Johnny Clegg and Paul Simon.

Aside from promoting Zulu culture, traditional music and social cohesion, Qadasi and Maqhinga have both been actively involved in rhino conservation, working alongside the Kingsley Holgate Foundation and Project Rhino KZN as Rhino Art Ambassadors. He features on a song especially written for the record about rhino conservation.

David “Qadasi” Jenkins
David Jenkins

Kingsley Holgate (South Africa)

Using adventure to improve and save lives – that is the key concept of the Kingsley Holgate Foundation, founded by one of Africa’s most colourful modern-day explorers. Kingsley Holgate is a humanitarian adventurer, author, TV personality, Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, speaker at the New York Explorers Club and a legend that Getaway Magazine calls their ‘Explorer in Residence’ and the most travelled man in Africa.

On every expedition – many of them world-firsts, the Kingsley Holgate Foundation team distribute life-saving mosquito nets, water purification Life Straws and Rite to Sight spectacles to remote villages throughout Africa and support wildlife conservation through community conservation education.

Having explored all 54 countries on the African continent, no other explorer has achieved so much in using the energy of adventure to make such a positive difference to the lives of so many. Kingsley lends his dulcet tones to the song about the plight of rhinos, the first time he has ever “rapped” on a record!

Kingsley Holgate
Kingsley Holgate

Patricia Vonne (USA)

A native of San Antonio, Texas, Patricia has worked extensively in Europe, Mexico and America and was featured in the film Sin City as Dallas (aka Zorro Girl) as well as national/international commercials and film work. In 1998-2001, she formed her own band which performed on the New York circuit and then relocated back to her native Texas. Her song "Traeme Paz" was featured in the film 'Once Upon a Time in Mexico', and "Mudpies and Gasoline" was featured in the Quentin Tarantino film 'Hell Ride'.

Vonne is an advocate for human rights, donating proceeds of her song, “Missing Women”, to Amnesty International to help bring attention to the surge in homicides in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. She is active in the United Nations’ program Artists United Against Human Trafficking. Additionally, in Austin, she works as an advocate for school music programs through the Texas Music Project and feels a close affinity to the ethos of The Solidarity Express.

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Patricia Vonne

Majid Bekkas (Morocco)

Majid Bekkas is one of the most exciting exponents of the ancient form of Moroccan music known as gnawa, whose deep cultural heritage mixes classical Islamic Sufism with pre-Islamic sub-Saharan African traditions. Although he was born and still lives in Salé, across the river from the Moroccan capital Rabat, his origins are further South, in Zagora in the Moroccan Sahara. Back in the mid-1970s he took up the guembri. Since then he has overcome all cultural barriers using this totemic and large box-lute, but has also made a major impact both with the oud and with his charismatic voice. Album releases such as “Out of The Desert” with Joachim Kühn, (released 2009 by ACT), and collaborations with Archie Shepp, Pharoah Sanders and Klaus Doldinger are just the tip of Bekkas’ musical iceberg: his wide-ranging activity extends from his native Morocco to the blues and beyond.

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Majid Bekkas

Cindy Alter (South Africa)

Cindy Alter is an internationally successful, award-winning, chart-topping, multi-million album selling singer and songwriter from South Africa. As a front lady of bands including Clout, Zia, and Alter Irving, her 4-decade music career has been packaged with no fewer than 13 albums and has taken her to all corners of the globe including Germany, Holland, England, and America. Cindy is also a published poet and spent 15 years living and working on the music scene in Los Angeles. She returned to South Africa after beating leukemia. Although based in Johannesburg, Cindy frequently travels to America, Europe, and England and is a full-time working musician who continues to write, perform and record and release new music.

CindyAlter
Cindy Alter

Events

The Solidarity Express will be launched in a series of live concerts in Johannesburg, South Africa and streamed globally soon. 
The concerts will take the form of fundraisers for disadvantaged communities in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
They will be held in association with the Kgalema Motlanthe & HIP Alliance and the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation.

… Details to follow soon …

The Cuban Ministry of Culture has invited The Solidarity Express to represent South Africa and perform at the prestigious Cubadisco Festival. The tour will be called “The Solidarity Tour” and includes free concerts, community workshops and a recording session at the legendary EGREM Studios.

The tour is supported by the Department of Arts & Culture’s Touring Ventures Fund.

… Details and dates to be announced soon …

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