Jewels of jazz take centre stage

AURAL PLEASURE: The all-female quartet, Heels over Head, will perform at the Jazz Super Session on Saturday, Women's Day.

AURAL PLEASURE: The all-female quartet, Heels over Head, will perform at the Jazz Super Session on Saturday, Women's Day.

Published Aug 6, 2014

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FORMING part of The Road to Standard Bank Joy of Jazz campaign is the Jazz Super Session which celebrates women and their role in jazz.

The Road to Standard Bank Joy of Jazz hosts a series of concerts known as Super Sessions which showcase upcoming talent. Through these sessions, jazz lovers can enjoy live music and music discussions by jazz presenters from different jazz clubs.

According to a press release, the jazz associations and jazz appreciation societies which exist throughout the country have become an integral feature of South African jazz culture and heritage. An important mile-stone in the evolution of these organisations was the formation of a national body, the South African Jazz Appreciators Association (Sajaa), in Durban in August last year.

On Saturday (which happens to be Women’s Day), the BAT Centre will host the award-winning female jazz band, Heels over Head. The concert will feature only women jazz presenters, including Olebile Dikgetsi from a Northern Cape jazz club; Nomsa Fankomo from Mpumalanga and Felicity Mashodi from the Western Cape.

Heels over Head comprises Thulile Zama (vocals), Nomkhosi Mazibuko (vocals), Susan Barry (keyboards), Lee Ngidi (bass), Arianna Carini (guitar) and Rebekah Pillay (drums).

During our chat, Zama spoke about being part of the Jazz Super Session: “It’s a part of jazz and we’re hoping that the relevant people will recognise the talent in Durban. We’re hoping it will open doors. Also, the national jazz appreciation club will be around. So since jazz is not commercial and doesn’t play on radio, the people who end up supporting us are the jazz appreciation units and it’s an honour for us to do a performance for this. They come form all parts of South Africa.”

Chatting about the day’s programme, Zama shared: “I’m looking forward to what they’re going to be doing and playing. They will be playing CDs of their choice and I’m looking forward to being a part of it. If they’re good, they’re given a chance to shine because usually in jazz it’s male- dominated and few women are really appreciated. Durbanites should come and support this event and see us do our thing.”

Steering the conversation to the band’s current projects and future plans, I ask Zama what the group has been up to.

“We released our EP in November so we’re still pushing that, playing gigs, playing the famous songs from our debut album and pushing for a new album soon. So we’re working on a new repertoire and future recordings.”

• Don’t miss Jazz Super Session on Saturday, featuring Heels over Head at the BAT Centre. For more info, see www.joyofjazz.co.za.

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