Pule Pheto, son of activist and poet Molefe Pheto, was born in Soweto 1966. At The age of 12, his parents were exiled and the family moved to London where he and his brother Gibo Pheto were raised. Having been brought up in a musical family, Pule quickly took an interest in playing the drums. Throughout his upbringing him and his brother were very interested in music and he went on to study towards a Bachelor of Music in Piano from Goldsmith College University of London. He has become a “master pianist” who has gained high acclaim and respect in the “avant and free jazz” genres.
Pheto is signed to Ogun Records label and has released six albums with them, and has also been part of a number of collaborations including Viva La Black with Louis Moholo, a South African drummer . He also often works collectively with his brother Gibo, and has written many songs for other artists. He has headlined a number of jazz festivals throughout his career, and in 2003 he collaborated with Louis Moholo, Mervyn Africa and Keith Tippett. Pheto brought his popular brand of free-improvisation and this collaboration can be seen as the fusing of three band styles.
His most recent work Deliverance (2016) is a collaborative jazz project that he worked on with Tumi Mogorosi. The project was an inter-textual intervention the saw the involvement of Mzwandile Buthelezi with his paintings, and the oratory work or Percy Mabandu. Pheto has an appreciation and great knowledgeable about various forms of music on a global scale and often incorporates that in his sets. He is creative and versatile and uses his music to reflect on the culture of South Africa and the rest of the world.
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