UKZN alumni Mr David Smith (pianist), and Coordinator of the Jazz Centre at the University Ms Thulile Zama (vocalist) have formed a musical duo called N’den. They will launch their new hit debut single Coffee in the Morning on 9 April on all digital platforms.
‘The song represents the simple things that people in love do for each other such as brewing coffee in the morning for a partner to show them that they are loved and appreciated,’ explained Zama.
The duo met in the early 2000s while studying music at UKZN. Their humble musical beginnings as a duo started with playing gigs in different restaurants and on the corporate scene.
Smith is passionate about music, and was a member of a Jazz/Hip Hop band, Big Idea, that made waves throughout the country. Distinguished by her dazzling voice, Zama is the lead vocalist of the all-female contemporary jazz band Heels Over Head (best contemporary jazz nominees SAMA, 2011 and Yamaha Young Artist winners, 2010). This versatile vocalist is well-known on the jazz circuit in Durban and her talents have taken her to Hamburg and Berlin, Germany and New Orleans, US.
They have been part of the Tributes to Mama Africa / Sophiatown band since 2017. In the last few years, the duo has been composing original music and covering some of their favourite songs for their YouTube channel and social media pages.
‘We’ve been friends for 18 years and we work well together as a musical team. It was a natural progression especially since we’ve been gigging together for a while now. A duo is also much easier to manage than a band as there’s just the two of us,’ said Smith.
Speaking about their future plans Zama said, ‘Our name is really derived from the words ‘And Then?’ which implies “what’s next?”. We’re on a journey musically and it’s all about the adventure. We are working on our first album and will be doing as many shows as we can and releasing more music in the future.’
Coffee in the Morning will be available from 9 April 2021 on digital platforms. Pre-orders and pre-saves are available now on iTunes (Search for N’den in the iTunes Store) and Spotify: ndenmusic.co.za.
YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3eMn6dxoGpxt3gueADcgKA
Facebook:
https://web.facebook.com/NDENMUSIC
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/nden_music/
The Story Behind Our Name:
