(Kyle
Shepherd, Standard
Bank Young Artist for Jazz 2014)
Modern Jazz 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.
Modern Jazz is one of the exiting 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.
Cape Town pianist, saxophonist, composer
and band leader Kyle Shepherd is the Standard Bank Young Artist for Jazz 2014.
Ten years ago, this prodigiously talented young man performed in Grahamstown as
a member of the Standard Bank National Schools Big Band; now he stands on that
same stage on the cusp of a career that promises to be significant for South
African jazz. He has already released three critically-acclaimed albums, all of
which have earned him South African Music Award nominations and has performed -
playing his own music - in 15 countries through Africa, Europe and Asia,
including significant festivals in China and Denmark and well-known jazz clubs
in Switzerland and Japan. His music pays homage to his musical and cultural
roots, but with an internationalism that sets him comfortably on international
stages – years spent playing with Zim Ngqawana, Robbie Jansen and Errol Dyers
are offset by collaborations with cutting-edge young musicians from around the
world.
Shepherd performs his music in two separate
shows: Kyle Shepherd Quintet with Buddy Wells (sax), Feya Faku (trumpet), Shane
Cooper (bass) and Claude Cozens (drums); and the Kyle Shepherd Trio with Shane
Cooper and Jonno Sweetman (drums).
Having claimed the SBYA title, Kyle joins
an illustrious group of performers that is now marking its 30th year. For three
decades Standard Bank has been a central sponsor of the arts in South Africa
through their support of the Standard Bank Young Artist Award. Winners of this
award have always been musical fire-starters – musicians whom audiences know
will set the stage alight each time they set foot on it. This year five of
these past SBYA winners, each with an impressive local and international
pedigree that can make South Africa proud as a nation – Shannon Mowday (sax),
Mark Fransman (sax), Afrika Mkhize (piano), Shane Cooper (bass), Kesivan Naidoo
(drums) – team up for SBYA Fire to show how South African jazz can hold its own
in any international arena.
In another coup, South African jazz icon
Louis Moholo-Moholo performs for the first time in Grahamstown. A founding
member of the legendary band The Blue Notes, he emigrated to Europe, settling
in London where he formed part of a musically-profound and influential South
African exile community. Moholo-Moholo is joined by Dutch cellist and composer
Ernst Reijseger, recognised for his work in world music, improvised music and
jazz, as well as Mark Fransman (sax), Kyle Shepherd (piano) and Shane Cooper
(bass).
Although individual members of the
ground-breaking, inspiring and musically sensational Norwegian Big Band
Ensemble, Denada, have performed in Grahamstown in the past, the festival has
finally managed to get the whole band here for 2014! The band is led by
trombonist Helge Sunde – a brilliant composer and arranger with a string of
awards to his name. Their music is comprised of equal portions of electronics,
lyrical grace and precisely executed groove-work, along with a high level of
sound development and balance of moods, melodic variety and arranging
ingenuity.
Last in Grahamstown in 1998, Austrian Jazz
professor Karlheinz Miklin - an internationally recognised saxophonist,
educator and composer - has specialised in playing jazz trio in a variety of
formats on different continents and assorted instrumentations. He returns with
a Dutch bass master and South Africa's most fiery drummer, Hein van de Geyn and
Kesivan Naidoo respectively.
“Standard Bank is proud to host so many
Young Artist winners in Grahamstown this year as we celebrate three decades of
young artist awards”, says Hazel Chimhandamba head: Group Sponsorships.
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 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;
Royal Netherlands Embassy; SAMRO; Swedish Arts Council / Swedish Jazz
Federation / Mary Lou Meese Youth Jazz Fund. For more information check www.standardbankarts.co.za or www.youthjazz.co.za
The 40th edition of the National Arts
Festival, Grahamstown will take place July 3 to 13 2014. Bookings can now be made online
through the website – click on the banner advert above or go to www.nationalartsfestival.co.za Programmes are available on the
website or free printed copies at selected Exclusive Books and Standard Bank
branches.
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.
Posts
