Vibrations Studios

PHAMBILI Marimba and Brass Ensemble is a 7-piece band from Cape Town, founded in 1988.  The band features a unique fusion of jazz, contemporary and African music with some classical influence.

Phambili’s début CD (BMG 2000) features own compositions and arrangements.  However, their vibrant live performance includes popular jazz standards such as “Take Five”, “Summer Time” and African traditional songs played on marimbas, drums, trumpet and saxophone.  The instrumentation is such that the marimbas are not used simply as percussion as is generally the case - but replace the usual ensemble of piano, guitar etc.  The addition of brass (saxophone and trumpet) contributes a further dimension to Phambili's performance, which is a totally new and multicultural experience.

The band has an impressive list of local and international performances and collaborations – having shared the stage with many famous South African music names such as the late Basil Coetzee, Abdullah Ibrahim, Winston Mankunku, Bayete, Ladysmith Black Mambazo and the late Mahlatini and the Mahotela Queens.  They have performed on stages at Sun City, The Nico and UCT, Grahamstown Festivals 94, 95 & 96, Cape Town Festivals amongst others, and at St George’s Cathedral, Cape Town during the State Visit of Queen Elizabeth II.

Phambili featured at two African music festivals in France in 1997.  In 1999 they performed to great acclaim in Washington DC, USA at The Smithsonian Institute’s 33rd Annual Folklife Festival.  In April 2000, Phambili gave six performances in Caracas, Venezuela for the South African Embassy’s Freedom Day Festival where they received an award for exceptional talent from the Simon Bolivar University.

Phambili was featured on SABC TV’s African music programme “Ezodumo” on 30th November 2000.  They recently received a Certificate of Appreciation for their performance at Tuynhuys on 8th March 2002 for the “Presidential Sports Awards 2001”.

Leader, Jongi Monatsi was invited to London in December 2001 to participate in workshops at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.  He collaborated with musicians from the UK, Gambia, Tanzania and Somalia culminating in a performance at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club.  Being invited to Korea for the Seoul Drum Festival 2002 was an opportunity of a lifetime where they shared stages with artists from 20 countries from Costa Rica to Slovenia, Denmark to Turkey.  Bongani and Jongi took part in the Soccer World Cup 2002 opening ceremony.

It is Phambili’s mission to show that on marimbas you can play all kinds of music.  To quote the band:  “As our name Phambili means “forward” we wish that our music will go out to the world and help in bringing harmony to many diverse cultures.”