Resume' of jazz duo, Trudy Rushin and Wayne Bosch

Jazz duo: TRUDY RUSHIN and WAYNE BOSCH

Trudy Rushin
Trudy has always been surrounded by, and passionate about, music. As a child she took piano lessons, but her true passion was always for singing. At high school, she taught herself to play the guitar. Within a year, she was writing songs. At teacher training college, she took classical guitar lessons with the late Neefa Van Der Schyff (early1980’s), but it was only when she enrolled at the Jazz Workshop, under the tutelage of Alistair Andrews and then Alvin Dyers, that she discovered her deep love for jazz.
She honed her natural singing talent, taking classical lessons from her mother, opera singer, May Abrahamse (Eoan Group Voice Production Department), and jazz lessons from Sandra Harman (Jazz Workshop), over a period of six years. She also took lessons with jazz legend, Merton Barrow, exploring aspects of vocal jazz. She joined Merton’s 6-piece vocal ensemble, doing intricate arrangements of jazz standards.
Her first stint in the professional music world was in 1988, with multi-instrumentalist, Eddie Petersen, in a duo called Flipside. Following that, she worked with different bands over a period of 5 years: 8-piece club band, Deadline; 5-piece band, Just Us, and a trio, Splash (with whom she did a 4-song demo of covers, in 1993). Throughout this time, she continued to grow her body of original compositions and perform as a soloist.

In 1997, she realized a dream by going into a studio with some of Cape Town’s top jazz musicians (Merton Barrow, Charles Lezar, Denver Ferness and Alvin Dyers), recording four of her original songs. In January 1998, she appeared with the same line-up at the 1998 Jazzathon at the V & A Waterfront.

In 2003, she formed a duo with guitarist, Keith Tabisher. She also started showcasing her original songs, supported by record label, Dala Flat Music, with whom she recorded two demo CDs (2004, Chocolate Guitar and 2005, New Beginnings). For two years, she and Tabisher worked as a trio with double bassist, Donald Gain. The trio did two live CD recordings, both in March 2006 (Live at the Nassau and Live at Spier Village Hotel). In 2005, she did a series of concerts, Time With Trudy, with keyboardist, Hilton Schilder.
In July 2006, she started recording her debut original CD, with Dala Flat Music and sound engineer, Dave Subkleve. This project was never completed, and is high on her list of priorities.

Wayne Bosch
Firmly established as one of Cape Town’s top guitarists, Wayne studied at MAPP (Music Action for People’s Power) and then at UCT, where he graduated with an Honours Performance Degree in Jazz. He launched his professional music career in 1996, with pianist Gerry Spencer, and was soon taking Cape Town by storm. In 1997, he played to international audiences on the cruiseliner, The Symphony, along with Gerry Spencer and Judith Sephuma. Since then he has worked extensively, performing with musicians like Robbie Jansen, Mark Fransman, Mike Campbell, Esther Miller and Basil Moses. A dynamic and sensitive accompanist, he is noted for his work with French vocalist Deborah Tanguy, San Franciscan singer Opie Bellas and South African award-winning jazz singer, Emily Bruce. In 2004, he formed part of an all-star line-up at a series of gigs at the Olympic Village in Athens.

Best-known for his work as a jazz guitarist, his versatility finds him embracing genres like Afro-Jazz, pop, R&B and Gospel with ease. He enjoys working in different formats, from duo to big band. A sought-after teacher in his private capacity, he has also been teaching at the Jazz Workshop since 1998. He teaches and mentors young learners at various schools, and is part of the Artist Residence Programme of the Western Cape Education Department. He is a key role player in the Arts and Culture Focus Schools in the Western Cape. A regular clinician, he has worked for the South Atlantic Jazz Conference.

Passionate about youth music development, he has worked on community-based programmes, including The Little Giants, Prompt and Tomecy. He continues to lead efforts to establish and develop a music school among impoverished communities in Cape Town.
Wayne can be heard on the following recordings: Goldfish – Caught In The Loop; Emily Bruce – The Love We Share; Esther Miller – Say Hello To Esther; Jazz Potjie (a compilation project, produced by Andreas Wellmann).

He is in the process of compiling a course in music improvisation for junior musicians. In 2000, he won acclaim in the Old Mutual Jazz Encounters Competition, and is a favourite among his peers and the jazz public.


Trudy and Wayne first crossed paths in 2008, when she returned to Jazz Workshop for guitar lessons. After taking lessons with him for seven months, they did their first gig together, appearing with bassist Shaun Johannes at the first “Jazz at the Nassau” concert for 2009. In July, they landed a weekly gig at The Food Lover’s Market, a restaurant in central Claremont, combining their talents to produce a fresh, new sound for Cape Town’s live music scene.