Cape Town - After a whirlwind half-year of successes, Beatenberg are set to return to the stage in Cape Town, where they will headline the annual Sekunjalo Edujazz Concert at Artscape next Saturday.
South Africa’s biggest pop act of the moment are in Barcelona, Spain, having performed at the Primavera Sound and PrimaveraPro festivals.
But next weekend they’ll be doing it for a good cause, when they perform at the Edujazz Concert, which is primarily a fundraiser for bursaries for disadvantaged pupils.
Cherie Hendricks, corporate affairs and sustainability director at African Equity Empowerment Investments Limited (formerly Sekunjalo Investments Limited), said the show aimed to promote Cape Town’s jazz culture by staging well-known musicians alongside primary and high school pupils.
Previous Edujazz shows have been fronted by Jimmy Nevis and Mi Casa.
This year, Beatenberg will be joined by the Edujazz Alumni Band, comprising former pupils of Alexander Sinton High, and the Beau Soleil Stage Band, made up of past pupils from the Kenilworth music school.
Beatenberg bass player Ross Dorkin said from Spain this week
: “We don’t really change our set for live shows. This is one of our big shows in Cape Town, so we are hoping to come back with a fresh, new energy. It’s special to play in Cape Town as we don’t get to that often.”
The band members, who are Muizenberg locals, call Cape Town home.
Beatenberg were a hit at this year’s Cape Town International Jazz Festival in March
, The trip to Spain has been significant, though, since it marked their first shows in Europe.
“We did three shows in Barcelona… This has been a huge festival of 45 000 people. I am happy and we had a good slot,” Dorkin said.
What is important to him for Youth Month is creating awareness about the needs of young people, especially in respect of music education.
“I taught music in Cape Town for three or four years.”
The SA Music Awards were the pinnacle in their career – they scooped several big awards, including album of the year for The Hanging Gardens of Beatenberg, duo or group of the year, best pop album and the South African Music Performance Rights Association Award for highest airplay of the year 2014 for their collaborative track with DJ Clock, Remember Me (Pluto).
That was no surprise since the record-breaking track sat at number one for 17 weeks.
“The reflection is only happening now. This is not just a holiday, this is to get distance. We were almost too close and we couldn’t see,” Dorkin said.
After Edujazz, the trio head straight into recording.
“We are excited about that. We have renovated a studio.”
He hinted there may be changes to their sound.
“We know we can’t sound like anything but (Beatenberg) but there may be changes. There is a lot of experimenting.”
If they aren’t recording, you might find them surfing or snorkelling off Muizenberg.
“We thought about moving to Joburg but we are there so often that it doesn’t feel like we don’t live there.”
Dorkin believes their appeal lies in the sincerity of their music. “This may come from living in South Africa, and growing up in the ’80s and ’90s, and that is expressed in our music. That is something people connect with,” Dorkin said.
* Tickets are R90 at Computicket.
Weekend Argus