(Thulile Zama, Zoe Masuku, Lindelwe Ngonelo and Nomkhosi Mazibuko)All-female jazz band Heels over Head appears in a Mini Festival at The Jazzy Rainbow on April 28. After the success of their debut album Could It Be in 2011, 2012 is a new year for the band. They are determined to work on new compositions and will perform some of them at this festival.
Renowned for their sparkling stage presence, energy and passion, Heels over Head has found its groove and created a smooth, watertight brand of contemporary jazz. Thulile Zama and Nomkhosi Mazibuko on vocals are joined by Lindelwe Ngonelo on keyboards and piano and Zoe Masuku on drums and vocals to create the easy breezy jazz-pop that has become their signature sound.
Performing alongside Heels over Head will be The Sir Walrus Band, rapper Manelis and poet Dashen Naicker.
Watching The Sir Walrus Band perform is sheer testimony to the fact that South Africa can, and does, produce quality musicians. This is a new groove-based, electric four-piece instrumental outfit and one of South Africa’s most exciting young Jazz-fusion bands. The Sir Walrus Band sits comfortably in the swing, groove, funk and rock spectrums and writes interesting, complex and contrasting fusion pieces as well as re-arranges covers to the point of bare recognition.
Dashen Naicker is a Durban-based poet. In his capacity as a slam poet and hip hop activist, he helped found the CPR Arts Movement, and has performed at numerous art and music festivals across the country including Life Check, Splashy Fen, and the National Arts Festival. In 2006, he won the Life Check freestyle All Elements Battle, and was placed second in the same event at the African Hip Hop Indaba that year. In 2010 he was one of the Durban Spotlight poets at Poetry Africa, and the winner of the annual Poetry Africa SlamJam.
People know Manelis as one of the fathers of vernac hip hop and one of the defining artists in Durban’s rap development in beginning and mid-90’s. Manelis draws inspiration from old African flavours, particularly South African artists such as Harare, Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Letta Mbulu to weave an unmatched genuine sound that has been described by IsoLezwe newspaper as “ripe, matured and professional”. His streetwise lyricism has an authentic Zulu feel with a colloquial touch that speaks of the African urban experience on soulful and sometimes alternatively experimental instrumental backdrops that inspire from a village to a global sonic landscape.
The Heels Over Head Mini Festival takes place on April 28 at the Jazzy Rainbow, Goble Road in Morningside. Tickets R50 and the doors open at 19h00. More information on 031 711 1524 or email: marlyn@isupportdoyou.com
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