Bokani Dyer – Radio Sechaba (Brownswood Recordings, 2023)
Multi-award-winning pianist and composer Bokani Dyer expands his musical vision with Radio Sechaba, a 15-track album that explores themes of nation-building, unity, and personal reflection. Positioned among the leading voices in South Africa’s contemporary jazz scene, alongside artists like Siya Makuzeni and Nduduzo Makhathini, Dyer weaves contemporary jazz with diverse influences, from African rhythms to electronic sounds.
“This is the first album where I’m drawing on all my influences in one project,” Dyer explains. “Each song takes a different approach—some quiet, some loud—reflecting a broad musical palette.” His work with the groove-based Soul Housing Project and his interest in electronic soundscapes further inform this stylistic range.
The album’s title, Radio Sechaba (Sechaba meaning “nation” in Sesotho), nods to South Africa’s history, particularly the ANC’s Radio Freedom, which broadcast messages of resistance during the apartheid era. “The name of the project is Radio Sechaba and Sechaba means nation,” said Dyer. “It is something I have been thinking a great deal about – how I can use my music to reflect the current moment in South Africa and where we’re at, as a people.”
Born in exile in Botswana in 1986, where his father, musician Steve Dyer, was also based, Bokani Dyer’s reflections on national identity shape the album’s core themes. Tracks such as the intimate “Ho Tla Loka” and “Mogaetsho” examine themes of justice and betrayal, while my least favorite track in terms of flow, “State of the Nation,” delivers a moving critique of contemporary South Africa. Meanwhile, songs like the irresistible funk-fueled “Move On” and “Resonance of Truth” shift focus inward, encouraging self-awareness and resilience.
The album also features the deeply rooted “Ke Nako” (“Now’s the Time”), previously included in Indaba Is, a 2021 jazz compilation from Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood label. Dyer performed the track live at the Claude Lévi-Strauss theater in France in 2022, delivering his fluid piano technique and also featuring notable guitar lines.
Interludes such as “Amogelang” and the Afrobeat flavored “Spirit People” function as reflective pauses, anchoring the album’s historical and cultural context. The closing track, “You Are Home,” fuses West African blues influences with an uplifting message: “Know your truth / Let it guide you / From the unknown / It will lead you home.”
“When I was recording the album, I didn’t block my inspirations,” Dyer explains. “So the music on it draws on African music, American music and, really, whatever sounds great to me.”
Buy Radio Sechaba.