Kaya 959 The Jazz Standard

A Jazz Standard Tribute To Feya Faku

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Faku was born in Port Elizabeth's New Brighton. Faku was mentored by South African jazz musicians Patrick Pasha, Dudley Tito, and Whitey Kulumani, who supported his early musical ability. After that, he enrolled at the University of Natal in Durban, where, in the early 1980s, Darius Brubeck founded the nation's first jazz and popular music school. Despite the restrictions of apartheid, Brubeck and his wife Catherine permitted Faku and the other three new students to remain in their home because they recognised their emerging talent and their unofficial student status. Joining several local jazz groups in the 1990s, he soon gained recognition for his extraordinary talent, which led to partnerships with South African jazz greats like Zim Ngqawana, Bheki Mseleku, and Abdullah Ibrahim.
Faku passed away on June 23, 2025, in Basel, Switzerland, at the age of 63. There, at the Bird's Eye Club, he was scheduled to perform.
29 Jun English South Africa Music History · Music Commentary

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