SOMI

The New York Times calls her “a virtuosic performer in full command of her instrument and powers.” Grammy voters made her the first African woman ever nominated in any jazz category. And Broadway audiences watched her own the title role in the Tony Award winning play Jaja’s African Hair Braiding. Somi Kakoma, known to the international jazz world as Somi, is one of the most extraordinary and wide-ranging artists performing today, and an evening with her is something genuinely rare.

• A Voice Rooted in History: Her latest album, Zenzile: The Reimagination of Miriam Makeba, was a companion to her critically acclaimed Off-Broadway musical Dreaming Zenzile, which she also wrote and starred in as a tribute to the legendary South African singer and activist. It is the kind of project that only someone with Somi’s depth of artistic vision and cultural grounding could pull off.
• An Artist Who Operates at Every Level: Two NAACP Image Awards, a Doris Duke Artist Award, fellowships from Soros, United States Artists, TED, and Sundance, a PhD in Critical Inquiry and Creative Practice from Harvard, and the founder of Salon Africana, her own boutique cultural agency and record label. Somi does not fit into a single box.
• A Pivotal Moment to See Her Live: Somi’s highly anticipated new album What Does It Take to Bloom? arrives in August 2026, making this an extraordinary moment to experience her in performance as she steps into this next chapter. Expect an evening of jazz, storytelling, and song that crosses continents, genres, and disciplines with ease.

Come ready to be moved by an artist at the height of her powers.