Kesivan & The Lights launch We Dance At Home and National Tour

Following a decade since his last release, Swiss-based acclaimed South African drummer, composer, artistic director and bandleader, Kesivan Naidoo, returns with We Dance at Home – a powerful new album and national tour by Kesivan & The Lights, launching 16 May 2026 at the WITS Theatre in Johannesburg.

Fresh from their appearance at the first Montreux Jazz Festival Franschhoek, this new body of work signals a bold new chapter – one that is deeply rooted in South African musical heritage while shaped by decades of global collaboration and lived experience.

“This is music you don’t just listen to – it moves through you. It’s about rhythm, memory, and the joy of playing together,” says Naidoo.

As noted South African jazz journalist and author, Gwen Ansell, observes in her liner notes, Kesivan “frames the architecture within which others can shine,” drawing on a lineage that echoes the great Art Blakey while remaining unmistakably his own.

A decade in the making

We Dance at Home is the first album from Kesivan & The Lights since Brotherhood (2014), and marks a significant evolution in sound.

While the unmistakable propulsion of Kesivan’s playing remains, the music now carries deeper layers. At its heart, however, the album returns to something more personal: the music of home. Inspired by childhood memories of listening and dancing in his grandmother Maude’s house, We Dance at Home moves between groove, lyricism and reinterpretation – where unexpected source material is transformed into something entirely new.

From a reimagining of Beyoncé’s Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) to a deeply personal interpretation of Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit, alongside fun original works such as “The Shizzle”, where groove, improvisation and ensemble interplay come sharply into focus, the album reshapes familiar works through a distinctly South African jazz lens – where melody returns to the forefront and rhythm invites movement.

The Lights: A collective in motion

True to its name, The Lights is not a fixed ensemble but a living, evolving collective – bringing together some of the most compelling musicians across continents.

Each performance becomes a moment of convergence – where individual voices meet within a shared musical language that is at once contemporary, African and global. The result is music that is immersive, groove-driven, emotionally resonant and impossible to sit still to.

For this tour, Kesivan & The Lights brings together the same dynamic transcontinental ensemble who toured South Africa in 2025:

  • Kesivan Naidoo – Drums / Musical Director
  • Bokani Dyer  – Piano / Keys
  • Darren English – Trumpet
  • Charley Rose  – Saxophone
  • Joan Codina  – Bass
  • Fabio Gouvea – Guitar

Together, they form a tight, responsive unit – capable of shifting from intimate, introspective passages to full-bodied, groove-driven intensity.

National Tour Dates

The album will be brought to life through a national tour:

  • 16 May 2026 – WITS Theatre, Johannesburg – Tickets available here
  • 17 May 2026 – Moonshot Café, Waterkloof Glen, Pretoria- Tickets available here
  • 20 May 2026 – UKZN, Durban- Tickets available here
  • 21 May 2026 – Chairman, Durban- Tickets available here
  • 23 May 2026 – Baxter Concert Hall, Cape Town- Tickets available here

The tour comes home to Cape Town’s Baxter Concert Hall on 23 May – returning to the stage where Kesivan & The Lights played to a sold-out audience in 2025. That performance marked a turning point for the project; this one brings it full circle. As the final stop on the tour, the Baxter concert will close the journey on a high – a celebration of the music, the moment, and the audience that has grown with it.

We Dance at Home is both a return and a renewal. It reconnects Kesivan to the place and people who shaped him, while opening a new chapter for The Lights – one that moves fluidly between continents, traditions and generations. Or, as the closing line of the album suggests: “This music is for you. Keep dancing.”

We Dance at Home is available across all major streaming platforms here.

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