(Albert
Frost)
Blues/Funk/World Music is one of the
exciting genres that will be showcased at this year's Standard Bank Jazz
Festival in Grahamstown.
The Standard Bank Jazz Festival,
Grahamstown 2014, incorporates a variety of disciplines into its programme.
Blues/Funk/World Music is one of the exciting genres that will be showcased at
the festival this year. It is just one part of the exceptional programme which
includes Mainstream, Afro-Jazz, Modern Jazz, Youth and the Standard Bank Jazz
and Blues Café.
Collaborations and explorations are the
unofficial threads that tie this category together, so it is fitting that this
year’s festival sees guitar gurus Dan Patlansky and Albert Frost teaming up for
an unmissable collaboration. Albert is one of the most versatile, accomplished
and talented guitarists in South Africa. He’s enjoyed success in the blues
genre through bands like the Blues Broers and as a solo artist. Together with
Arno Carstens, Albert brought out two SAMA-winning rock albums. An incredible
live performer, he has played at every major music festival in the country
including Splashy Fen, Oppikoppi, KKNK, Aardklop, and is a regular performer at
the National Arts Festival, having won the only Gold 2013 Standard Bank Ovation
Award for his Fringe appearance. Dan Patlansky is a remarkably talented
guitarist - a blues phenomenon - who is already earning himself lofty titles
and accolades for his startling handling of a six-string Fender Stratocaster,
and his inspired partnerships – including his sold-out performance with Karen
Zoid at the festival in 2013. This collaborative performance is a must-see in
an outstanding programme.
The marimba is quintessentially an African
instrument. Though uncommon in jazz, one musician who has crossed that boundary
with ease is internationally-acclaimed chromatic marimba player and
percussionist Bongani Sotshononda. For over two decades, Bongani has been
responsible for presenting a beautiful fusion of African jazz and world music
around the globe, including collaborations with vibraphonists Stephon Harris
(New York), Pascal Schumacher (Belgium) and Magda de Vries and performances with
the Brubeck Brothers and Morris Goldberg. With a band drawn from South Africa,
Congo and Mozambique – including Sisonke Xonti (sax), Bhekumuzi Mkhuane
(clarinet/sax), Nelson Malela (piano - CD), Sylvain Dalubeta (bass - CD),
Teshito Langa (drums) – this really is a United Nations of African musicians on
Grahamstown's stage.
The
Saturday Night Funk Party – drawn from two popular
Cape Town ska-jazz bands, The Rudimentals and Golliwog – will entertain with
their soulful blues, groovy rhythms and infectious funky melodies. Including
Dan Shout (sax), Justin Bellairs (sax), Lee Thomson (trumpet), Gorm Helfjord
(guitar), Bokani Dyer (piano), Romy Brauteseth (bass), Kesivan Naidoo (drums),
Tlali Makhene (percussion), Farrel Adams (MC/rap) and Teboho Maidza (MC/rap),
this is a crowd-pleaser that promises to be a night of foot-stomping funk!
Cape Town guitarist, poet, rapper and
social activist, Jitsvinger is expanding the restrictive boundaries that divide
musical genres. His debut album, Skeletsleutel,
was released in 2006 and his performance credits a range from social awareness
campaigns to schools to serious jazz clubs. He will be teaming up with
beat-maker and popular Hip-Hop producer Arsenic on the decks for this festival
programme.
Plus, audiences can look forward to the
triumphant return of the Blue Broers – including Albert Frost (guitar), Dan
Shout (sax), Rob Nagel (bass/harmonica), Simon Orange (keyboards), Jonno
Sweetman (drums) and guests. One of South Africa’s top Blues acts, they have
re-emerged after a decade-long break to crank out feel-good music in their
trademark black suits and dark glasses.
Saxophonist Ivan Mazuze is one of the many
strong young Mozambican musicians who have emerged from the cultural melting
pot of Maputo. His music reflects the best of southern Africa's contemporary
jazz sounds, with its rhythmical percussiveness, jazz harmonization and the use
of vocals together with saxophone creating a unique Afro-World sound. A decade
ago he was a student attending the Standard Bank National Youth Jazz Festival.
Now he returns with his own music and his own band.
A new Jazz Festival venue - the Standard
Bank Jazz & Blues Cafe at St. Aidan’s - will offer a great jazz show every
night at 21h30 with a 23h30 jazz jam session where professional and student
musicians drawn from across the Jazz genres will be jamming, improvising and
letting loose late into the night.
The 40th edition of the National Arts
Festival, Grahamstown will take place from July 3 to 13 2014. For more
information click on the banner advert at the top of this page or visit www.standardbankarts.co.za or www.youthjazz.co.za
The Standard Bank Jazz Festival is
presented with support funding from: -
Arts Council Norway; - Concerts SA; East
Norway Jazz Centre; The French Institute of South Africa; Paul Bothner Music;
ProHelvetia Johannesburg; Royal Netherlands Embassy; SAfm; SAMRO; - Swedish
Arts Council / Swedish Jazz Federation / Mary Lou Meese Youth Jazz Fund, and
the Swiss Arts Council
The National Arts Festival is sponsored by
Standard Bank, The National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund, Eastern Cape
Government, Department of Arts and Culture, City Press and M Net.
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