Last night’s free concert on Greenmarket Square marking the start of the Cape Town International Jazz Festival was all about the music.
By 5pm there were a few hundred people milling around and 16-year-old Taskeen Torien, winner of the Sactwu’s Got Talent competition, bravely opened up with the first song.
She was quickly followed by The All Star Jazz Band which draws on high school pupils from Arts and Culture Focus Schools. They impressed the crowd, with 17-year-old David Sass eliciting the first big round of applause from the growing crowd.
The students even managed a small sing-along when they paid tribute to the late Zayn Adam by singing his signature tune, Give a Little Love.
Winner of the 2015 Open Mic Jazz Vocal competition Zoë Modiga showed the crowd what her performance tomorrow night would be like, but Beatenberg were the band the audience were waiting for.
By the time the trio launched into their hit Pluto (Remember You), they had the crowd dancing along.
Welcoming everyone to the concert, jazz festival director Billy Domingo said next year’s festival would feature an even greater number of artists from the continent. He said he was aiming for a 60/40 split between African with South African artists, and those from elsewhere.
“And it will be 75 percent African and South African in two years,” said Domingo.
• The Cape Town International Jazz Festival takes place tomorrow and Saturday at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, and tickets have been sold out for weeks.
Cape Argus