Marcus Wyatt is a South African trumpet player, composer, arranger and bandleader who has been an influential figure in the country’s jazz landscape for over three decades. 'Church of the Rolling Tongue' is Marcus' latest creative ensemble, bringing together some of South Africa’s most distinctive improvisers, composers and musical storytellers.
The event is rooted in groove, collective improvisation, cinematic storytelling and the sonic possibilities of language, and it is where words and language are treated as sound before meaning, valued for their timbre, rhythm and texture and, in some places, becoming the groove itself.
The evening features an all-star cast of collaborators, including bassist, composer and producer Shane Cooper, skilled bassist Romy Brauteseth, versatile musician Siya Makuzeni, jazz legend Pule, saxophonists Sisonke Xonti, and Justin Bellairs and drummer Jonno Sweetman.
The project is an homage to the people, experiences and events that have shaped the SAMA winner's life as a musician, father and human being, and it embraces life's contradictions: light and shadow, struggle and wonder, confrontation and celebration, all held together by the transformative power of groove.