I can gladly report that the future of jazz
music in this country is in excellent hands. (Review by Keith Millar)
The Standard Bank National Youth Jazz
Festival, which runs concurrently with the Standard Bank Jazz Festival and is
part of the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown, has become one of the most
important jazz development initiatives in the country. Now in its 25th year, it
brings together over 300 students and 40 teachers, from diverse backgrounds
from all over South Africa, with nearly 90 professional jazz musicians and
educators.
The festival lasts for six days, and
incorporates innovative jazz performances, rehearsals, workshops, lectures,
networking and the opportunity for South Africa’s future jazz stars to interact
personally and musically with their peers and the country’s top performers.
At the end of the festival the students
audition for places in the Standard Bank National School’s Big Band and the
National Youth Jazz Band. These bands, under the musical direction of a leading
jazz educator and performer, then perform a concert on the main jazz festival
stage.
The success of the programme can be measured
by the fact all but three of the musicians in the Festival Big Band are
ex-members of these two youth ensembles.
I had the pleasure of attending the
performance of the Schools Big Band in the DSG Hall and can gladly report that
the future of jazz music in this country is in excellent hands.
The boys and girls of this band, under the
musical direction of the experienced trombonist and big band leader Kelly Bell,
showed maturity, poise and skill way beyond their years. All the performances
were astonishingly good with tenor saxophonists, Mosses Seblo from Thembisa
High and Michael Hoyle from SACS in Cape Town being the particular stand-outs.
The rhythm section was as solid as a rock and overall the sound was tight,
cohesive, perfectly pitched and very musical.
Eight members of the band came from
Rondebosch High School in Cape Town and five from Stirling High in Port
Elizabeth. Several of the youngsters have been in the band for two and three
years.
The high standard of Schools Big Band is
testament to the success of the Standard Bank National Youth Jazz Festival. It
is a wonderful initiative and hugely beneficial to those who attend. Not only
from a music point of view but also for the opportunity for them to interact,
and to learn about each other’s cultures.
The only disappointment for me is the lack
of participation from KZN. According to the organisers, schools from this
province show little interest in the festival. If this is so, it is a pity
because so many of our schools have strong music programmes. – Keith Millar
To
hopefully spur on some of our local schools here is some contact information.
Festival
Director - Alan Webster, director@youthjazz.co.za
Festival
Manager - Donné Dowlman, donne@youthjazz.co.za
(To
link direct to the NAF site click on the large banner that runs across the top
of this blog)
Posts
