Sometimes, finding your way forward means reconnecting with where you started. For South African jazz ensemble Sun Quintet, that journey takes shape in Winter Sun, a soulful new single that explores friendship, memory and the quiet comfort of familiar places.
The two-time Mzantsi Jazz Award-winning quintet is opening a new chapter with the release of the track, the lead single from its forthcoming sophomore album, Still Becoming, scheduled for 30 October 2026.
Born out of friendships formed at Stellenbosch University, the group’s latest release captures something many young South Africans understand: the experience of growing up, following different paths and discovering that the places and people who shaped you remain part of who you become.
Finding warmth in the places we leave behind
There is something deeply relatable about Winter Sun. Its title evokes those brief moments when sunlight breaks through a cold day, offering warmth without changing the season itself.
Musically, the track follows a similar emotional journey. It begins gently, allowing its melodic ideas to unfold before moving into a more energetic, swinging passage. As the rhythm gathers momentum, the ensemble creates a sense of movement and possibility, eventually returning to a softer, piano-led ending.
That shift between stillness and motion reflects the tension between nostalgia and living in the present. Rather than simply looking backwards, Winter Sun considers how memories, relationships and experiences can help us navigate unfamiliar environments.
It is a thoughtful introduction to a project rooted in the understanding that home is not always a physical destination. Sometimes, it is the connection we carry with us.
Five musicians, one evolving sound
Sun Quintet brings together Mark Lynch on saxophone, Aubrey Jr. Matsila on trombone, Melisizwe Plaatjie on piano, Chadleigh Gowar on bass guitar and Stuart Martin on drums.
The musicians first connected while studying in Stellenbosch, building the chemistry that would eventually become the foundation of their ensemble. Since then, their individual journeys have taken them into different environments, influencing how they approach their craft and collaborate as a group.
Those experiences feed directly into Still Becoming, an album that explores what happens when individual perspectives meet within a shared musical language.
With members now connected to different creative environments, including Johannesburg, the Western Cape and the wider international jazz landscape, the quintet draws on varied influences while remaining grounded in South African jazz traditions.
On Winter Sun, that balance is heard in the interplay between the horns, the evolving harmonies and the trombone solo, which introduces distinctive pedal effects hinting at the group’s willingness to experiment with its sound.
The result is not an attempt to recreate the past. It is a conversation between where the musicians began and who they are becoming.
South African jazz with room to grow
For young audiences discovering South African jazz, Sun Quintet represents a reminder that the genre continues to evolve through collaboration, experimentation and the reinterpretation of musical heritage.
The group first attracted significant recognition in 2023, winning Best Jazz Ensemble at the Stellenbosch National Ensemble Competition and the overall category at the SU National Ensemble Competition. Its debut album, Embrace the Path, subsequently earned recognition at the Mzantsi Jazz Awards, winning Best Jazz Album and Best Jazz Song.
Rather than treating those achievements as a final destination, the quintet is using its next release to deepen its artistic identity.
Still Becoming is described as a seven-track sophomore album in its overview, although the supplied tracklist contains six songs: Winter Sun, Mkhize, CG’s Elegy, Forever My Hope, UMbulelo and Mpinga Omkhulu. The project moves between composition and improvisation, tradition and contemporary expression, with connection serving as its central theme.
Where to experience Sun Quintet next
The album rollout brings the ensemble to Cape Town for two events in October. Sun Quintet will be the guests of honour at Listening Series Session, a collaboration between the Cape Town International Jazz Festival and Texx and the City, at Pink Room on 28 October. An album launch is scheduled for The Athletic Club and Social on 29 October.
The group is also set to perform at Umanyano Lwe Jazz in Muldersdrift in December.
With Winter Sun available on major streaming platforms, listeners can experience the first chapter of a project that looks at growth not as a destination, but as an ongoing process.
For Sun Quintet, the message is simple: we can move into new spaces, meet new people and become different versions of ourselves without losing touch with the things that brought us here.
Sometimes, all it takes is a little winter sun to remind us.
Stream / Download: https://onerpm.link/still-becoming
