Zwide Ndwandwe on Bheki Mseleku’s ‘Beyond The Stars’ 


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originally published as part of the first (and only) issue of ‘In Words’ - a digital zine by Lilies Radio
in July 2021

 written by Zwide Ndwandwe

More and more each year, I’ve grown to understand why many jazz luminaries considered jazz an inadequate term for the music it’s been designated to describe. The aversion that Nina Simone had in particular - which prompted her to reject the term and opt for “Black classical music,” - became increasingly clear to me the more I decided to simply listen to what was being played.
Black classical music became the only sensible classification in my mind the more I immersed myself, specifically, in the creations of Bheki Mseleku.  

On March 15, what would have been Mseleku’s sixty-sixth birthday, the world was blessed with an unheard six-song suite from the legendary South African pianist, titled Beyond The Stars. It’s the first posthumous release since Mseleku’s transition, and the second solo piano offering in his catalogue. When I initially discovered Meditations, the first solo piano suite by Mseleku released in 1994, the aforementioned quote from Ms. Simone punctuated itself throughout my entire listening experience. Black classical music. It resonated with me once more the moment ‘Beyond The Stars’ became accessible to not just my ears, but to the soul. Mseleku’s playing and arrangement skills is riveting for reasons other than his sheer virtuosity.

Cosmic Dance, the opening track, is delivered in a way that you can hear how the rest of rhythm section would fall as if they were present. There is an overwhelming spiritual force that guides the direction of each song, making the work which Mseleku manages to achieve with his instrument akin to an experience with a shaman. Isango (The Gateway) could be named that because of how it feels like an entrance to a dimension which exists outside of this realm. 
Mseleku’s life was grounded in ancestral knowledge, as that aspect, along with influences from the Black American tradition of improvisational music, informed how the music was played. 

Each note, melody and chord progression on ‘Beyond The Stars’ carries a particurlarly indigenous understanding of existence; no matter how much we may willingly or involuntarily suppress it, our mortal shells will never be separated with the spirits that live within and the spirits which operate beyond.