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Cape Town Jazz Festival stages another coupEspafrika02/10/2010 11:00:39 
Renowned guitarist/vocalist George Benson and US saxophonist Charles Lloyd have been signed up for the Cape Town International Jazz Festival. The festival's eleventh edition will take place on Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 April at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) stage. The two luminaries will perform with headline acts announced at the end of 2009: the McCoy Tyner Trio which has saxophonist Gary Bartz as a guest; violinist Regina Carter in her exploration of the music of the African Diaspora with her Reverse Thread project; the high register-hitting vocalist Rachelle Ferrell, the older statesman of jazz Toots Thielemans and our Jonathan Butler who brings with him US trumpeter Rick Braun and Scottish-born saxophonist Richard Elliot as guests. "As organisers we are thrilled to have George Benson and Charles Lloyd on this year's line-up", says ecstatic festival and EspAfrika director Rashid Lombard. "As we promised, the quality of musicianship at the festival won't be compromised by the all-round international financial squeeze around us". Known for his splendid and spectacular live performances, Benson will close the main Kippies stage on both nights of the two-day festival. On Saturday, he will stage a George Benson: "An Unforgettable Tribute to Nat King Cole" concert. A 28-piece South African orchestra will accompany the master guitarist/vocalist in paying tribute to one of the most important musical personalities of the twentieth century, Nat King Cole. Dubbed the George Benson: "Greatest Hits" show, the performance the following day will be completely different. The fans will have the opportunity to hear all the hits that Benson has belted out over the years. He promises to dig deep into his musical well for award-winning hits such as ‘This Masquerade', ‘On Broadway' and ‘Give Me the Night'. Cooking up a storm on the Rosies stage will be the Charles Lloyd New Quartet. Formed in 2007, Lloyd's new group with pianist Jason Moran, bassist Reuben Rogers, and drummer Eric Harland has been making waves with its pristine and beautiful music. With a knack to produce instant classics, the saxophonist's latest recording Rabo de Nube with the quartet, received numerous accolades when it was released and was one of the best straight-ahead jazz albums in 2008. Like his 1965 Forest Flower album -one of the first acoustic jazz recordings to sell more than a million units - the new CD not only opens up new musical vistas, but is a signpost of where twenty-first century jazz is going. Lloyd who turns 72 in March has a huge fan base in South Africa and jazz appreciation clubs in the country's townships regularly play his music. His appearance in Cape Town is a platform for him to connect with followers of his music. Like in previous years, the 40 bands who are part of this year's bill of artists will share five different stages - Kippies as the main stage of the festival; Moses Molelekwa stage for less known but very talented musicians; Basil "Manenberg" Coetzee stage for those that specialise in fusion and other experimental music; Bassline for contemporary jazz-related contemporary style such as hip-hop and kwaito; and the Rosies stage reserved for more acoustic sounds. New additions to the Rosies stage are Makeson Browne & Akoustic Knot and Mervyn Africa (Kaap Finale). Multi-instrumentalist Mark Fransman, used his alter ego Makeson Browne to bring together Cape Town-based musicians whose desire is explore the boundaries of acoustic music. Under the name Akoustic Knot, the musical group does interactive improvisations with painters/sculptors where all those on stage seek to push each other to greater artistic heights. Swedish alto-saxophonist Johan Hörlén will join Akoustic Knot on stage. Kaap Finale is pianist Mervyn Africa's reincarnation of a band he formed in the 1980s when he lived in Britain for more than twenty years. Eager to showcase his rich musical heritage, Africa who turns 60 this year produced Mellow Mayhem; an album that drew on the pianist's familiarity with Western classical music, carnival songs, township jazz and Cape Malay choral traditions. Now back at home, the pianist will display at this year's Africa Grandest Gathering both his roots and all the influences that he absorbed during his exile years. Added to the Moses Molelekwa's line-up is: a US piano-drum-bass trio, The Bad Plus; Jason Moran and his Bandwagon band; and Marcus Wyatt Language 12. What distinguishes all three bands is their eagerness to explore and innovate. For an example, The Bad Plus derives its band identity from the group's ability to turn rock and pop songs into convincing jazz vehicles. In its years of existence, the Midwest band has transformed songs by the Pixies, Bowie, Black Sabbath and Nirvana into classic jazz standards. Similarly, Wyatt who is a well-recognised South African trumpeter continuously reinvents his sound. After two bebop-inspired albums, he now works with a groove-based band, Language 12. In a self-titled CD released in 2006, the cutting edge group intersperses its live performances with loops and soundscapes. For many people, the surprise artist of the festival will be young pianist. Moran who is also a member of the Charles Lloyd New Quartet, leads his own outfit, Bandwagon. With Thelonius Monk as his inspiration, Moran belongs to that squadron of young jazz musicians that are not averse to take risks in their playing. With seven albums under his belt, prominent art institutions commissioned Moran to write for different projects. Too exquisite not to be recorded, the 35-year old pianist uses the Bandwagon to document this work. While there will be all the experimentation inside the auditoriums of the Cape Town International Convention Centre, new announcements for the outside Basil "Manenberg" Coetzee stage indicate that this is where the big party will take place. The additions are: the Ronny Jordan Organ Trio, Gauteng Jazz Orchestra, Hanjin, Paulo Flores and Delft Youth Big Band. - Ronny Jordan Organ Trio: Ever since the release of his 1992 debut Antidote, Jordan has kept the mantle of being one of the world foremost acid jazz guitarist. Presently, the London-born guitarist has among many of his project a trio with organist Mel Davis and drummer Dave Moore. He brings the trio to Cape Town. - Gauteng Jazz Orchestra: A partnership between Gauteng provincial government's Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation; and the Music Academy of Gauteng, the jazz orchestra has budding jazz musicians serving internship alongside greats the likes of Khaya Mahlangu, Johnny Mekoa, Stompie Manana, Barney Rachabane and Prince Lengoasa. - Hanjin: Hong Kong-based Singaporean songwriter Tan Han Jin is famous for his role as a producer of Mandarin singers such as Jacky Cheung, Eason Chan and Leon Lai. In November 2009 Tan who uses his first name for stage work released a debut Raw Jazz that consists of eleven jazz standards including "Honeysuckle Rose", "Sweet Lorraine" and "I've Got You Under My Skin". The 34-year old artist comes to South Africa to share his skills not as a man behind the scenes but as a vocalist. - Paulo Flores: a leading singer from Angola. For many years, Flores was a proponent of kizomba - Angola's popular genre of dance and music derived directly from zouk sounds. He is also a pioneer of semba; another Angolan contemporary music style. Flores performed at the inaugural launch of the Luanda International Jazz Festival in August 2009. - Delft Youth Big Band: An initiative of the Department of Social Development and a non-governmental organisation called Cape Outdoor Adventure Service and Training, the Delft Youth Big Band is a 20-piece unit drawn from disadvantaged young people from the Cape Flats. Trumpeter Ian Smith is the project's musical director. In their announcement of the remaining artists, festival organisers made it sure that the country's vocal traditions where not left out. Joining the artists to perform at this year's festival is none other than songstresses Judith Sephuma; Melanie Scholtz and Lira. Although their vocal styles are different, all three vocalists belong to the country's new cream of singers. In their short careers, individually the singers have scooped one award after the other. Sephuma's 2005 New Beginnings won her title of being the Best Female Artist of the year and the CD was voted the best as the best produced and best engineered recording in the 2006 MTN South African Music Awards (SAMA). Lira's latest album Soul in Mind saw her walk away with three SAMA awards in the in the Album of the Year, Best Female Artist and Best Adult Contemporary categories. Scholtz on the other hand is the Standard Bank Young Artist for Jazz for 2010. There has also been no letting up on the Bassline stage. The new additions on this stage are: US hip-hop unit Guru's Jazzmatazz feat. Solar & the 7 Grand Players; the rocking Blk Jks with its kwaito, ska and reggae multi-layered vamps; energetic Japanese club jazz sextet Soil & "Pimp" Sessions; the US-based South African violin and guitar duo MiKANiC with Freshlyground's Zolani Mahola and saxophonist Buddy Wells as guests. But the real crowd puller for the vibrant stage will be TKZee. After a seven-year break during which individual members of South Africa's biggest selling kwaito trio pursued solo careers, the group is back with a new album, Coming Home. Judging by sales and airplay that the music in the new album has received, it is clear that the three musicians have not lost the skill and talent that made them the most popular group of the 1990s. Sensing the excitement around some of the names on this year's list of performers, Lombard has a simple advisory note; "Those who want to be part of the festival must book now. With the festival this year taking place during Easter weekend and with the Two Oceans marathon being staged in the same period not only will there be a scramble for tickets but there will so much pressure on accommodation and travel arrangements to Cape Town". The success of the festival would have not been possible had it not been the generosity of sponsors. The gold sponsors for the Cape Town International Jazz Festival 2010 are: Department of Arts and Culture, Ritek Empredentos, Other sponsors include Provincial Government of the Western Cape, The City of Cape Town, Grolsch, Jack Daniels and Avis. Ticket prices for the 2010 festival are: R330 for single day pass and a two-day weekend pass is R485. As in previous years, there will be an extra fee of R25 per act for patrons wishing to attend concerts on the Rosies stage. Tickets are available at Computicket and Shoprite-Checkers stores. For more information go to: www.capetownjassfest.com For further information, pictures and accreditation please contact Jeni Fletcher on jenifletcher@telkomsa.net or office: 021 551 2277; cell: 082 825 5718. For interviews and artist queries please contact Marilyn Thompson on 021 465 3314; Cell 082 571 3261 or marilyn@t-n-t.co.za Artslink.co.za Account: Carenza van Willingh espAfrika carenza@espafrika.com 021 422 5651 CTIJF Web site: http://www.capetownjazzfest.com
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