CAPE JAZZ FESTIVAL

This year’s Cape Town International Jazz Festival will take place on March 30 and 31. In its 13th year, the festival continues to titillate South African audiences with the finest in local and international performers at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC). The headliners reflect the festival's philosophy of broadening audience's perspectives of what is understood as jazz.

KZN representation in the line-up includes Pietermaritzburg born saxophonist Steve Dyer who has been on the South African music scene for some time but he has constantly evolved musically. His latest project Ubuntu Music will be released as an album this year and performed at the festival for the first time. His band features pianist Bokani Dyer, bassist Shaun Johannes, trumpeter Lwanda Gogwana and drummer Andre Swartz.

The line-up includes Brubecks play Brubeck (USA/SA). Darius Brubeck, son of the legendary Dave Brubeck, was the founder of the Centre for Jazz and Popular Music at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and a major figure on the jazz scene in Durban for many years.

Over 34,000 tourists are attracted to the festival annually. Mr Paul Mashatile, Minister of Arts and Culture comments: “The Cape Town International Jazz Festival does not only expose audiences to a wide array of the best international and local music, the event also contributes to providing a larger skills base in the creative sector which helps in sustaining the creative industries in South Africa.”

Aside from contributing a significant amount to South Africa's economic and tourism industries, young journalists are nurtured in the annual Arts Journalism Program led by jazz critic Gwen Ansell.

Celebrating not only musical creativity, but visual creativity too, The Duotone Photographic Exhibition is another annual fixture of the festival. Every year it commemorates prolific jazz photography.

Tickets R400 for a single day pass and R550 (two-day weekend pass). As in previous years, there is an additional fee of R30 per act for performances at the Rosies stage. Booking at Computicket and Shoprite-Checkers stores. For more information visit www.capetownjazzfest.com