Shane Cooper is a bassist, composer and producer from Cape Town, South Africa. He is part of the new wave of young voices in the South African jazz scene. A prolific sideman and award-winning acoustic jazz artist, he also involved in South Africa’s leftfield electronic dance scene under the alias Card On Spokes.

In 2017 Shane wanted to start a new project that would be a platform for him to consolidate ideas from his jazz and electronic pursuits under one umbrella. This project is MABUTA. The name is the Japanese world for ‘eyelid’ and plays on the power of the eyelid as the doorway between the dream world and the real world. He recruited some of South Africa’s most exciting young artists for the group: Bokani Dyer (piano, Rhodes and synths), Sisonke Xonti (tenor sax), Marion Witbooi (drums) and Robin Fassie-Kock (trumpet). He then ran a successful crowdfunding campaign to raise the money to record their debut album Welcome To This World. The 8-track album is energetic and wide, fusing acoustic and electronic elements while venturing into various corners of Africa, including Mali, Nigeria and Ethiopia. It features several guest artists including tenor saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings (Shabaka & The Ancestors, Sons of Kemet) from London.