This month marks what would’ve been Miriam Makeba’s 88th birthday. To celebrate the memory of Mama Afrika, SA’s exciting voice of jazz, Talie Monin, has released her version of Ntyilo Ntyilo.
The single is now available as a lyric video and a radio single:
Ntyilo Ntyilo is a South African evergreen classic, written by Allan Mzamo Silinga and brought to fame by Miriam Makeba.
“I feel quite a connection to Mama Miriam Makeba. It really became apparent to me as I started my music career overseas, far from home. I began to look at my identity as a South African and what it meant to be out there in the world, yet remaining rooted in my musical upbringing” says Monin.
“I looked to her as a musical ambassador of South Africa, as a strong woman who exhibited that strength and confidence in her image and music. It impacted me greatly! This song is appropriate as it was important for me to honour my heritage as a South African somehow in the making of this album. I am also a great lover of Brazilian music. I then discovered that Mama Miriam had done a few Brazilian tunes! So this song really turned out to be the perfect arrangement! I would like to think she would be proud of it. I am grateful for the opportunity to create an interpretation of such a classic”
Talie Monin’s success has seen her perform across the globe, most notably at the Montreux Jazz Festival.
Ntylio Ntylio appear’s on Talie Monin’s album 24 Strathay, available on all major streaming platform.
More about the artist:
A standout vocalist since her earliest days growing up in Johannesburg, South Africa, Talie Monin, (Nqobile Mchunu in her native Zulu) won numerous local singing contests and was deeply inspired by the contemporary jazz music her parents, aunts and uncles surrounded her with.
In her 20s, Talie moved to Paris to further her jazz vocal training at the American School of Modern Music, and went on to attend the renowned Sarah Lazarus Vocal Atelier at the Bill Evans Piano Academy. Eventually making her way to Hong Kong, Talie became an immediate hit with Asian audiences due to her unique delivery and vast knowledge the standard jazz repertoire.
In 2017, Talie Monin performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival and won ‘Audience Choice Award’ honours. She was invited back to Montreux the following year to open for Chick Corea and performed her original tune ~ ‘Where’s That Man?” to a warm, rousing reception from the standing room only crowd.
In 2018, Talie was invited to give a special spotlight performance at the Imbokodo Jazz Festival in Durban, South Africa, where she was the only performer to receive a standing ovation.
More recently Talie Monin gave a sensational command performance at the Nelson Mandela 100th Centennary Celebrations held in Beijing, China. She also headlined at the Hong Kong International Jazz Festival in October 2018.
She is set to release her debut album ’24 Strathay’ at the end of 2018.
The songs on this project reflect both her deep African musical roots and her longstanding love for the Great American Songbook and contemporary jazz.
Impossible to pigeon hole, Talie Monin offers a compelling blend of African~inspired music along with carefully selected contemporary tunes, plus a great many original compositions that make an immediate positive on listeners.