Nduduzo Makhathini possesses an incredible, unique ability to absolutely transfix anyone listening, whether through his recorded albums or during his mesmerizing live performances like this recent Tiny Desk set. The South African pianist and Zulu healer creates music that is lush with spiritual exploration, meditations on Blackness, and ancestral invocation, always delivered with thoughtful intentionality. For this intimate concert, Makhathini presented a powerful cross-section of his work titled the Ntu Sonicities Devotion Suite in Five Movements, walking the audience through deeply personal concepts. The suite moves from “Kuzodlula,” which encourages stillness and inward emptiness, to the invocation of African deities in “Omnyama,” before offering a short reflection on Black aesthetics in “Equidistant Passage.” The journey builds to “Izinkonjana,” a transcendent song of grace that evokes the feeling of effortlessly flying birds, and culminates in “Imvunge,” a powerful song of protest and victory. Makhathini, along with bassist Zwelakhe-Duma Bell le Pere and drummer Kabelo Mokhatla, creates a truly immersive soundscape interwoven with Zulu spoken reflections, vocoder use, and sound design that truly compels the audience to participate in this profound act of devotion.