Vuyo Sotashe & Chris Pattishall

In this highly-anticipated collaboration, South African vocalist Vuyo Sotashe and American pianist/composer Chris Pattishall come together for an intimate and soulful evening of duets. Mainstays of the NYC music scene over the last decade, Sotashe and Pattishall have each contributed to a wide range of projects spanning jazz, gospel, theater, and film. Having created together for many years in various configurations and international tours, Sotashe and Pattishall started regularly performing as a duo in 2020 and were awarded a Joe’s Pub residency as New York Voices artists. Together, they make music with a hushed vulnerability. In a program that will range from the American masters of Duke Ellington and Nina Simone to South African Xhosa hymns and Stevie Wonder, Sotashe and Pattishall bring the healing power of music to the forefront. At this special engagement at Joe's Pub, they celebrate the release of their forthcoming EP, Invocation, out on March 20.

Sotashe and Pattishall's Invocation showcases their emotional range through expansive soundscapes. This project is a recorded testimony of time told slowly, tracing the gnarled roots of ancestral knowledge into a forest in full bloom. The recording — co-produced by Rafiq Bhatia and Eric Oberstein — unfolds as a practice of radical empathy, where voice and piano co-create space for reflection and transcendence.

Since moving to the United States as a Fulbright Scholar, Vuyo Sotashe has performed with celebrated jazz legends including Wynton Marsalis, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Jimmy Heath, George Benson, Al Jarreau, Barry Harris, and Winard Harper. He has appeared at Montreux Jazz Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival, Cape Town International Jazz Festival, Newport Jazz Festival, Joy of Jazz, and Arcevia Jazz Festival. Sotashe made his off-Broadway debut in The Public Theater’s Black Light.

Chris Pattishall’s debut album, Zodiac, was hailed as “a startling achievement” (The New York Times) and “a hell of a debut album” (Stereogum). He is a featured performer on a wide range of recordings, from the GRAMMY-nominated debut album of Jamison Ross to the film scores of Knives Out, Nightmare Alley, and the Academy Award-winning Best Picture Everything Everywhere All At Once. Pattishall co-composed the score to the Emmy-winning documentary, Going To Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project, with Samora Pinderhughes.

“... pushing and pulling with practiced ease like dancers taking turns to lead. They absolutely enchanted a sold-out audience, [with] Sotashe’s radiant warmth and enveloping voice, alongside Pattishall’s elegant and fluid expressions on the piano.” - Esplanade

On Vuyo Sotashe:
“a bright tenor that can easily spring from sonorous depths to the full-bodied top of his impressive range” - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

On Chris Pattishall:
“an expert at using the jazz tradition as a jumping off-point for experimentation” - JazzTimes

This performance is a Joe's Pub New York Voices Commission.

Vuyo Sotashe's Website
Chris Pattishall's Website

Photo credit: Yekaterina Gyadu