Shishani & Ernst Vranckx – Family Affair

The story of Shishani and Ernst Vranckx begins with their father, a Belgian psychiatrist and self-taught pianist who moved from Belgium to Southern Africa in the 1980s. It was in South Africa that Ernst took his first jazz piano lesson, before returning to Europe to become a celebrated Belgian jazz pianist and composer. A few years later, Shishani was born in Namibia, growing up with soul, jazz and the musical traditions of that country. A vocalist, musicologist and anthropologist, Shishani is internationally acclaimed for both their music and their social engagement.

With Family Affair, Shishani and Ernst celebrate their shared roots and a family history bound together through and through by music. They have recorded and toured across Europe, Namibia and Malawi, and won the Mooie Noten singer-songwriter competition in Amsterdam. On stage, jazz and soul merge into a homage to Southern Africa, the musical influences that shaped their lives. Shishani shares the stage with the Ernst Vranckx Trio, with Kris Duerinckx on drums and David Helm on double bass, and special guest Hayden Chisholm on alto sax and vocals.