Thabisa

Thabisa - The Journey - iTunes

Thabisa - The Journey - iTunes

THREE Port Elizabeth singers have made the top 18 of this year’s Idols. Now, it is up to South Africans to decide whether Jean Huisman, 20, Thabisa Mhlakulwana, 29, and Melissa Allison, 23, have what it takes to go all the way. - Herald/Weekend Post

THREE Port Elizabeth singers have made the top 18 of this year’s Idols. Now, it is up to South Africans to decide whether Jean Huisman, 20, Thabisa Mhlakulwana, 29, and Melissa Allison, 23, have what it takes to go all the way. - Herald/Weekend Post

THREE Port Elizabeth singers have made the top 18 of this year’s Idols. Now, it is up to South Africans to decide whether Jean Huisman, 20, Thabisa Mhlakulwana, 29, and Melissa Allison, 23, have what it takes to go all the way. - Herald/Weekend Post

THREE Port Elizabeth singers have made the top 18 of this year’s Idols. Now, it is up to South Africans to decide whether Jean Huisman, 20, Thabisa Mhlakulwana, 29, and Melissa Allison, 23, have what it takes to go all the way. - Herald/Weekend Post

Thabisa Mhlakulwana, contestant #12716, IdolsSA Season 8 - DSTV.COM

Thabisa Mhlakulwana, contestant #12716, IdolsSA Season 8 - DSTV.COM

“Being at home was quite refreshing for me. Coming back was like a child going home to get blessings before taking a leap of faith and turning a dream into reality,” said Mhlakulwana. - East London Express News - By Baliswa Ntlahla - WSU

“Being at home was quite refreshing for me. Coming back was like a child going home to get blessings before taking a leap of faith and turning a dream into reality,” said Mhlakulwana. - East London Express News - By Baliswa Ntlahla - WSU

Former SA Idols singer tours Eastern Cape - East London EXpress

Former SA Idols singer tours Eastern Cape - East London EXpress

Thabisa being interviewed on Weekend Live, South Africa`s premier weekend Morning TV Show. - SABC2

How am I going to do my music in a foreign world?”

The South-African born musician Thabisa let her sonic stardom shine on the New Haven Green Saturday as the headlining artist for this summer’s International Festival of Arts & Ideas concert series.

The now-settled local musician moved to Elm City roughly three years ago when her husband accepted a job at Hopkins School. The two traveled thousands of miles with their two young children, the youngest of whom was still being breastfed at the time, Thabisa told the Independent on Saturday.

She had just wrapped up recording her second album, “Eyodidi,” and finished her South African-based tour. After being offered the job opportunity in America for her husband and family, Thabisa said she feared that she did not give her new album, released in November of 2015, enough time to be recognized and marketed. “I felt disheartened,” she said.

However, Thabisa has since become an international artist. She continues to work on using her music to heal and make her listeners feel her passion for love, she said. - New Haven Independent

From the back of the bar, the artist got a five minute warning and launched into her song “Eyodidi,” which is sung in her native Xhosa. She turned it into a dance party, breaking for a shoulder-shaking interlude with Fox in front of the stage before coming back on to lift her arms in time with trumpet and bass. Her voice coasted high and then swooped back.

Even as she left the stage, she was ready to keep dancing. As members of Gentleman Brawlers set up their equipment, Becca Fox approached the mic, lifting her arms and wiggling her hips from side to side, ready to get the party started. - New Haven Arts Paper

Deep into her set at Best Video on Tuesday, Thabisa had the crowd wrapped around her finger. And she wasn’t even the headliner.

The South African-born musician, who has become a stalwart of the New Haven music scene, was at Best Video to support her compatriot, MXO, based in Johannesburg but currently doing a month-long U.S. tour.

“When I heard he was coming, I didn’t think twice,” Thabisa told the audience. “He’s the music I jog to every day. Well, almost every day.” She meant the jogging, not listening to MXO. “When I was in college,” she said, “I used to listen to him religiously. My ex-boyfriend introduced him to me. That was the best thing he ever did for me.”

Thabisa was drawn to MXO’s music in part because “he spoke like I speak — from the township.”

When she heard he was planning a U.S. tour, she reached out to him. “I told him, ‘you have to come to Connecticut.’” She said she would get him an audience and a band. And she did - Township friendship brought to Best Video

The proceedings began with Thabisa and her band, who embodied the ideal of good neighborliness that many talked about. The South African-born singer fronted a multinational, multigenerational, and multiracial band that tore through a few of her songs, particularly delighting the audience as she jumped from the stage to work the room. As Ivy said, “she brings something to this city — everyone who hears her is enamored.” - New Haven Independent

Sunday, the museum welcomed back New Haven singer Thabisa Rich, who performed last year among the dinosaurs. In the time since, she has spent her time performing around the city and also speaking up for victims of police brutality and a stronger sanctuary city status in New Haven.

As she danced across on stage, mixing Sam Cooke with some of her own work, she encouraged others to dance as well as a symbol of their shared humanity.

“Love and remembrance,” she said of the performance. “I wanted to remind people not only of the [legacy] of Martin Luther King, but also to remind us of our community and our humanity ... clearly, we have forgotten that we are all equal.” - Arts Paper

As Lucia wove through the room, her words dovetailed with this year’s theme “New Haven: A City of Stories.” On one wall, an interactive touchscreen beckoned with big, luminous text and images. At a makeshift stage, the musician Thabisa and her band prepared to spin stories from South Africa to Mississippi to New Haven.

One room over, culinary storytellers from Sherkaan Indian Street Food, Zinc, Bear’s Smokehouse, Havenly, and Orchid Café on the Green whipped up red beans and rice, vegan po’ boys, honeyed Baklava, miniature cupcakes and hot, peppery etouffee with andouille chicken sausage and masa harina. - Arts Paper