BCUC are finding strength in numbers

Not much comes close to the experience of watching BCUC live. The South African seven-piece have spent the past 20 years honing their raucous improvisatory sound, journeying from weekly open jams in their local Soweto parks to prime slots at the Glastonbury and Womad festivals. On stage, they weave 20- or 30-minute-long tracks into a trance-inducing tapestry, combining harmonised chanting with fierce, polyrhythmic drumming. Their audiences dance, jump and stare in awe, pummelled by the sound.

“You should at least watch one BCUC show in your life,” vocalist and bandleader Nkosi Zithulele says with a wide smile. “It’s good, spiritual and uplifting, but it will also mess you up because we cover a wide array of emotions. We can take you from being sombre to feeling ecstasy – and there’s chaos, too.”

Read the feature in Crack Magazine.

[This piece was published on 18/09/23]