Hot line-up for jazz festival

Published Nov 23, 2011

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Multiple Grammy winner and platinum-selling vocalist James Ingram headlines next year’s Cape Town International Jazz Festival.

He leads a mix of international musicians, new artists and old favourites who will play on five stages at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC). Next year’s festival will take place on March 30 and 31 and tickets have already gone on sale.

Tickets cost R400 for a single day pass and R550 for the two-day weekend pass. An extra fee of R30 an act gets you into the Rosies stage, which usually features the more serious jazz acts.

The connoisseur can expect to sit down to listen to the Brubeck Brothers, Ron Carter, Lenny White and The Andre Petersen Quintet.

The annual event draws just more than 34 000 people to the Mother City. Generating an economic boost of R463 million for the province, it has become one of the leading tourist events on the calendar.

The first 20 confirmed acts for next year’s 13th jazz festival were announced at the CTICC last night and the rest of the line-up will be confirmed next year.

The festival isn’t just about the two days of non-stop performances at the convention centre, but also about the music development programmes, workshops and masterclasses.

The Duotone Photographic Exhibition documents the emergence and growth of jazz globally and the free Community Concert will get everyone into the spirit of things.

This year’s free concert again takes place on Green Market Square, on Wednesday, March 28, and will showcase some of the international and local acts scheduled to perform at the weekend.

l The Cape Town International Jazz Festival takes place on Friday, March 30, and Saturday, March 31. Check www.capetownjazzfest.com for updates and further information. Get your tickets at Computicket and Shoprite Checkers outlets.

 

JAMES INGRAM

US funk/soul vocalist Ingram won his first Grammy for his R&B vocal performance on Quincy Jones’s album The Dude in 1981. He became best known throughout the 1980s and 1990s for his hit collaborations and Oscar-nominated work on soundtracks.

Inspired by the plight of victims of Hurricane Katrina, Ingram returned to his roots in 2009 with the inspirational Stand (In the Light), which featured new works as well as Yah Mo Be There, his legendary Grammy Award-winning 1983 collaboration with Michael McDonald.

PATTI AUSTIN & DAVE KOZ

One of the artists Ingram collaborated so well with in the 1980s (on Baby, Come to Me) is Austin, who will also be coming to town as a special guest singing with Jazz Festival favourite, Koz. Though a multiple-nominee, Austin won her first Grammy 53 years after becoming a recording artist, for Avant Gershwin, in 2008.

Earlier this year, US smooth saxophonist Koz, a six-time Grammy nominee, set the Kippies stage alight and he’s becoming a regular favourite with the festival audience.

MIKE STERN & DAVE WECKL

Six-time Grammy nominee and jazz-fusion guitarist Stern will team up with jazz-fusion drummer Weckl. Stern got his start playing with Blood, Sweat & Tears and was recruited by Miles Davis to play in his comeback band in 1981. Weckl gained fame while working with the Chick Corea Elektric Band and started recording and touring with Stern in 1991.

VIRTUAL JAZZ REALITY

Formed in 1993, Cape Town-based VJR are Ian Smith on trumpet and flugel horn, Sammy Webber on bass, Andrew Ford on piano and vocals and Frank Paco on drums and vocals. Their repertoire ranges from light jazz to cutting-edge original compositions and they often serve as a launch pad for new and undiscovered local talent, so hopefully Carmen Herbert will join them on vocals.

BRUBECKS PLAY BRUBECK

International jazz veterans the Brubeck Brothers – Darius on piano, Chris on bass and Dan on drums – will be joined by special guest Mike Rossi on saxophone. Led by Darius, who is teaching and performing in Europe and is a Fullbright Senior Specialist in Jazz, the brothers played at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown earlier this year.

RON CARTER

US double bassist and cellist Carter is one of the most recorded (and original and influential) bassists in jazz history. His extensive discography and 45-year long career includes working with everyone from Miles Davis to A Tribe Called Quest. He lectured and taught jazz ensembles and the business of music at many universities and remains as active as ever as a performer.

DONALD HARRISON

Noted for starting the nouveau swing style of jazz (swing beat merged with many dance styles), the New Orleans saxophonist also performs in the smooth jazz genre and is known to perform as a producer, singer and rapper in traditional Afro-New Orleans culture and hip hop genres with his group The New Sounds of Mardi Gras. He occasionally writes orchestral works for major orchestras.

LENNY WHITE

A US jazz fusion drummer best known for his work on Chick Corea’s offering Return to Forever. A self-taught left-handed drummer on a right-hand kit, White started working in New York in the late 1960s and hasn’t stopped since.

ANDRE PETERSEN QUINTET

South African pianist Petersen and his quintet will launch their debut album and play with Reggie Washington (bass/US), Dre Pallemaerts (saxophonist/US) and Chantal Willie (vocals/SA).

ATMOSPHERE

Minneapolis-based indie hip hop group Atmosphere consist of rapper Slug and dj and producer Ant. Active since 1989, they have been a driving force behind the Twin Cities hip hop scene. While the lyrical content may speak about politics, economics and social issues, their beats are influenced by jazz, soul and classic rock. Expect to see them perform on the Bassline stage.

JEAN GRAE

Born Tshidi Ibrahim, Grae is the daughter of Sathima Bea Benjamin and Abdullah Ibrahim. This indie hip hop artist has taken her inherited talent and created her own international fan base with This Week, Jeanius, Cookies or Comas and is about to release Cake or Death. The rapper, producer and vocalist works extensively with Talib Kweli and Pharoahe Monch.

GOODLUCK

Cape Town-based Goodluck have been touring extensively with their electro sound alongside Basement Jazz, Paul Oakenfold, Just Jinjer and even acting as the opening act for electro dance duo Goldfish. The electro-swing trio blend electronic beats with jazz vocals, synths and keyboards.

ZAMAJOBE

A Top 10 Idols finalist in 2003, this South African songbird has gone beyond that commercial beginning to establish herself as a vocalist. The first South African to be nominated in the MTV Europe Best African Act category in 2005, the multiple SA Music Award nominee wrote the material for her debut album, Ndawo Yami.

ZAHARA

Zahara became a lead singer of a church worship team and grew up listening to Hillsong. She learnt to play guitar and started performing around East London after leaving school. Picked up by TS Records, she’s become an overnight sensation with her debut album, Loliwe.

THE JASON REOLON TRIO

Reolon first performed at the Jazz Festival in 2004 back when it was still known as a spin-off from the North Sea Jazz Festival. The pianist was a founding member of Breakfast Included (and currently also plays with The Restless Natives), but for next year he’ll play with Heinrich Goosen on drums and Wesley Rustin on double bass in his own trio.

ALFREDO RODRIGUEZ

This 25-year-old Cuban pianist got his big break in 2006 when he was selected as one of 12 pianists from around the world to play at the Montreux Jazz Festival, where he struck a chord with legendary music producer Quincy Jones. His debut album will be released later this year.

DAVID SANCHEZ AND LIONEL LOUEKE

Tenor saxophonist David Sanchez is from Puerto Rico, where his earliest influences were not only Afro-Caribbean and danza, but also European and Latin classical. In 2005, Sanchez won the Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album for his 2004 Coral.

Benin-born Lionel Loueke was picked as top Rising Star guitarist in Down Beat magazine’s annual Critics Poll in 2008 and 2009 and calls Herbie Hancock his mentor. He combines a deep knowledge of African music with a conventional and extended guitar technique to create a warm sound of his own.

THE MOREIRA PROJECT

Led by jazz saxophonist, producer and three time Sama-winner, Chonguica is a noted ethnomusicologist based in Cape Town, but hails originally from Mozambique.

ALEXANDER SINTON HIGH SCHOOL JAZZ BAND

Started in 2008, this high school jazz band have taken all the lessons learnt at the Youth Jazz Festival in Grahamstown, UCT jazz workshops, CTIJF workshops and playing in Beijing at the Tutti World Youth Music Festival in July to open next year’s Cape Town International Jazz Festival.

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