Lots of Joy at the new look Standard Bank Joy Of Jazz

If you do not know by now, the Standard Bank Joy Of Jazz is an annual not-to-be-missed jazz festival held in Johannesburg, South Africa. The festival boasts four stages with performances over three days, and a lineup of jazz, mixed with other genres like RnB, Soul and world music, with perfomances .

A brief history of the festival, it started off in the capital city, Pretoria, and then moved on to the Newtown arts precinct where it developed an unique identity and put Newtown and Johannesburg on the world map. This year was hosted in Sandton for the first time. Over the 16 years it has been running it has featured over 50 local and international artists.

When the festival organizers announced that the festival will be moving from the artistic Newtown to Holliwood-like Sandton in 2014, they were met with a lot of criticism despite promising what has been hailed as one their most impressive line-ups by far - Gregory Porter (2014 Grammy award winner for best vocal jazz album),  Dianne Reeves (2001, 2002, 2004, 2006 Grammy Award Winner for best vocal jazz performance), Herbie Tsoaeli (2013 South African Music Award winner for best jazz album) and Kyle Shepherd (2014Winner of the Standard Bank Young Artist award for Jazz ), to name a few, were all on the line-up.

The Sandton show finally happened, from 25th September to 26th September, and all criticism was silenced. The artists put up world class performances one after another. At some point festival attendees were spoilt for choice, with some top jazz acts overlapping - Gregory Porter (23h45) and Christian Scott (00h00) were a classic example of this.

When I asked those that attended for their festival highlights, Gregory Porter, Christian Scott and Billy Ocean's came up many times... and of course, Roy Hargorove singing the blues! All performances were world-class, and the festival left a lot of JOY behind.

The date for next year's festival is already set, Sandton Convention Centre, 24th, 25th and 26th September. See you there ! (www.joyofjazz.co.za)

Some shots from the festival (All pics by Moeti Moumakoe except for Billy Ocean by Karabo Matlala):

Jazz @ The Grahamstown National Arts Festival

The country's biggest arts festival, the The National Arts Festival (also know as The Grahamstown Arts Festival) kicked off officially on Thursday 3rd July. This year's jazz festival lineup also features a stellar lineup of local and international jazz musicians, including the 2014 Standard Bank Young Artist Award Winner for Jazz, Kyle Shepherd, and the South African jazz legend Bra Hugh Masekela.

Since I will not be attending this year's festival, I decided to dig out some of the shots I took at last year's festival and share them with you - to give you a glimpse of what happens at the jazz halls of this wonderful festival that celebrates all forms of creativity. Enjoy...

The return of Jazz Nights @ Bassline, Newtown

Bassline first opened its doors as a live music venue in 1994, providing platform for South Africa’s finest jazz acts to showcase their craft, in the Melville suburb (Johannesburg). The venue then closed down in 2003 and was re-opened in 2004 in the arts and cultural precint of Newtown.

This year Bassline celebrates its 20^th anniversary at their renovated Newtown venue, with some of the décor taken from the original venue in Melville. What caught my eye was the innovative drum-kit chandelier in the centre of the room, and the general décor on the walls, which add to the magic once the lights are dimmed and the music starts.

As part of their celebrations, Bassline will be running a series of jazz performances for the next six weeks, with a stellar line-up of artists who polished their craft on the old Bassline stage over the years. The series kicked off with master bassist Herbie Tsoaeli and his African Time Quartet on the 25^th of July, and will feature Paul Hanmer, Musa Manzini, Tlale Makhene, McCoy Mrubata and Lucas Senyatso, in the subsequent 5 weeks.

For more details on the series, and other shows at Bassline, you ca visit their website : http://www.bassline.co.za

 

African Time Quartet on the end of the opening night of the Red Hot Jazz Nights

 

Talented pianist, Nduduzo Makhathini 

The Orbit Experience with Jimmy Mngwandi

A lot had already been written about the venue and many photographers, professional and social networks hobbyists alike, had sufficiently captured and shared moments from the venue, never to be repeated again. Almost every South African jazz platform, newspaper, blog, and social network group, had had their say. I even heard some artists saying that it was too good… too good to be true. It was still not enough to satisfy my curiosity and desire to experience this apparent live jazz phenomenon personally. 

It finally arrived. On Sunday 6^th April, it was my turn to experience the magic of The Orbit (www.theorbit.co.za ) – A newly opened jazz venue in Braamfontein, that has been at the tip of every live jazz appreciating individual’s tongue, around Joburg. Fitted with high quality sound and lighting to create the perfect ambiance, one would be excused for using the word “perfect”, to describe it. The act on that evening was the South African bass maestro Jimmy Mngwandi, who is now based in New York, playing music from his new album African Desert (recorded in Chicago). He featured Mzamo Bhengu on trumpet, Sphiwe Shiburi on drums, Mdu Mtshali on Piano, and Sax veteran Syney Mnisi. 

Upon arrival I was disappointed to notice that the show was going to be held at the smaller stage at the bottom, as I had heard great stories about “the other stage”, the great 200 seater theatre upstairs. That was about the end of my disappointments though! Everything else was what I expected and a bit more, and the food smelled divine. 

With the ambience set and the audience totally silent, Jimmy and the band went on to put up an impressive show, and the queue at the CD sales desk said it all. He played with great passion and energy, and had not forgotten his sense of humour at home. Mdu caused a few hearts to skip bits with his fast-paced traversal of the black and white keys, and just when I thought he had stolen the show from Jimmy, Sydney and Sphiwe had me thinking twice about it with their interchanges. At some point Sydney nodded convincingly as Sphiwe phrased away. When it was Sydney’s turn to solo, he didn’t hold back on showing why he is one the best sax players SA has ever produced, playing like a man possessed, and only taking split second pauses to fix his spectacles and get some breath. Sphiwe kept the rhythm steady and flawless, completing the magic of The Orbit experience.  

 Jimmy Mngwandi’s African Dessert is available from Jazz Essay Record Bar (https://www.jazzessayrecordbar.com ). Some pics from the show…