The Bokani Dyer Trio, named after the highly acclaimed South African pianist and composer, returned to basics with their fourth studio album Neo Native (2018). In 2019, the album was named Best Jazz Album at the prestigious South African Music Awards. The album title refers to Dyer himself, who was born in Botswana in 1986 to South African parents in exile. In 1990, once Nelson Mandela had been released from prison, the family returned to South Africa. Later, Dyer went to New York to hone his jazz skills, and for a time he experimented with electronic music. He has been living in Johannesburg since 2016 and last year provided the opening track for Indaba Is, released on BBC DJ Gilles Peterson's famed Brownswood label. The album is a compilation featuring important young jazz musicians from Johannesburg. In 2020, Dyer released the album Kelenosi, recorded without his trio.
