Gabi Motuba Encapsulates A Journey Of Pain, Loss And Healing In Latest Album “The Sabbath”

Envision a journey of multiple emotions invoked by the various elements of life such as loss, pain, healing, love and peace, this is what award winning Jazz artist Gabi Motuba’s 2024 sophomore album “The Sabbath” encapsulates. A project that started out as a self defying expedition ended up becoming a well written diary that comes packaged with a more structured and straight forward definition to one’s inner character through various walks of life that define one’s core identity.

“The Sabbath” which was released on the 27th of November 2024 has been in the works for many years with the loss of her father in 2020 due to Covid 19 being the core start into the making of the album. The album showcases Gabi’s unique taste for music with the infusion of Classical, Jazz, African and Eastern sounds which creates a soothing and yet beautiful sonic experience for the ear. It all begins to feel like you are traveling to another place away from one’s daily problems as Gabi’s unique pen and cross collaboration with various composers such as Robin Fassie, Tumi Mogorosi, Chevonne Plaatjies, Themba Mashobane, Zos Ntuli, Kabelo Monnathebe, Thabang Tabane and Reza Khota across various tracks on the project elevates the experiences and enhances the message behind every song with their key signature touch.

Gabi Motuba expresses her various emotions and what connects her to life such as religious belief as well as family. This is heard in the “The Rapture Revisited” which is a well arranged track creating a calm tone through Gabi’s vocal play accompanied by a nostalgic Instrumental layout. It is through this great work, that Gabi received recognition from Spotify with support on their ‘Jazz NXT’ and ‘Mzansi Jazz Archive’ playlists featuring her phenomenal 1st lead track titled, “Order My Steps”.

The production truly speaks for itself as each string, key, lyric and vocal play truly portrays the level of quality, love and respect that has been poured out into this project. Production is never easy especially in the world of Jazz as everything is done intentionally to further express what is in mind and at heart.

In a short interview around the production process and tools that Gabi used to put the project together, she shared “To make this incredible album I used the Sibelius software, which is a music scoring software used commonly for writing and scoring classical works. I really enjoy writing and composing my music using Sibelius because I can build the sound prior to playing it live. Sibelius lets me layer even instruments I may not be accustomed to in order to produce a special and unique frequency. It has worked for me over the years and it’s my go to composition tool. I started using Sibelius in high school by transcribing pop songs by artists like Rihanna, Chris Brown, Beyonce… and thereafter I began transcribing film scores from Disney movies and finally I began composing my own music with it and I’ve never looked back!”

If you are a lover for great art that speaks volumes in so many ways then “The Sabbath” is truly the one for you. From track 1 to track 11, you will not skip a single beat as you shall be mind blown by not only the relatable and emotionally evoking storytelling but then also just how uniquely of a commemoration to Gabi’s beloved father. It speaks volume on the importance of healing from an intense amount of hurt or pain triggered from loss. Not only is it something that a lot people across the world can resonate with but then also it allows for the music to serve as a guide upon this journey to one fully making peace with all the circumstances in the world.

“The Sabbath” is indeed a masterpiece that best showcases the evolution of Jazz in South Africa to the world. It is a great start into 2025 as Gabi also took time to announce that she has joined the ‘Escopia Distribution’ roster with plans to further extend her musical experience for her fans in the course of the new year and many more years to come. As we await for extensive content from her, let us enjoy this amazing body of work. Listen to “The Sabbath” by Gabi Motuba here.

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