Johannesburg — VOCALIST ESTELLE KOKOT's album, Information (Beyond the Box/Sony ATV) had the distinction of being nominated for a South African Music Award (Sama) this year before most audiences outside the industry had heard it. Kokot was in SA last month to launch the album.
But the singer herself was born here and is very well known to South African audiences, particularly for her work at the old Kippie's in Newtown in the 1980s with Bruce Cassidy and the late Mike Makhalemele. Kokot also worked with groups such as Phambili and Rush Hour -- she featured on their debut album The Perfect Way -- as well as teaching at the then Pretoria Technikon and doing a season at Chris van Niekerk's Kalk Bay Supper Club. Her solo show, Beyond Belief, showed at both the Grahamstown and Windybrow arts festivals.
...