Cue Online (Grahamstown)
John Edwards
2 July 2009
An eye and an ear to the ground can yield some unexpected rewards at the National Arts Festival this year, not all of which are exclusively aural.
In recent years, the music programming appears to have refined a format that rarely strays from the well-trodden path and, for the most part, this is true of what is on offer this year, but not without a few sparkles.
Despite being a brew that is more predictable than potent, Freshlyground will be headlining at the DSG Hall on the closing weekend of the Standard Bank Jazz Festival and, according to the press release, the band "can boast invitations to serious jazz festivals as well as extended weeks at Number 1 on the 5FM Top 40". Well, yes, for whatever that is worth.
Clearly the jazz festival sponsors need to see some bang for their buck and, unsurprisingly, tickets for these shows have sold fast. The "authentic" jazz showstopper at the DSG Hall on Saturday 4 July is the Awesome Big Band, which will feature a selection of international jazz musicians paying tribute to Duke Ellington in arrangements written by South African bassist Victor Masondo.
Over the years, the jazz festival has developed a knack for astutely strategic programming that caters for a diversity of markets and covers a range of bases – local and national heritage, young South African jazz artists (with and without awards), niche European (and, more recently, Israeli) jazz, national/ international collaborations, and, of course, the sell-out concerts that provide the bums on seats. As always, the jazz festival succeeds in offering much that glitters. Whether or not it is gold depends to a large extent on the individual taste/s of the listener.
Fusions, crosses, intersections
The Western art music component of the festival usually hides some precious metal among the staples and this year is no exception: Intersections: Swiss/Africa features "dialogue between a classically trained Swiss-based ensemble (EnsemBle baBel) and two champions of Xhosa traditional music" (Madosini Latozi Mpahleni and Dizu Plaatjies) and this "intersection of their instruments, languages and cultures creates a vast landscape for improvisation". Now we're talking!
The musicians that comprise EnsemBle baBel perform both classical and contemporary music and work with photographers, painters, scientists and writers. They often perform in non-musical venues, creating connections with the context, the pictures exhibited or the architecture. In Grahamstown, however, Intersections: Swiss/Africa will be staged in the distinctly musical space of the Beethoven Room on Friday 3 July and Sunday 5 July.
The festival market for contemporary/ popular music seems to have expanded and pop-indie rockers the Parlotones top the Cuervo Music Room slots along with Jesse Clegg. Also in evidence is genre-crossing band The Stereotypes, Afrikaans rock innovators aKing and hip hop rap outfit ETC Crew.
The Graham Hotel is the traditional home of acoustic musicians and this year is no exception with stalwarts such as Guy Buttery, Steve Newman and Nibs van der Spuy in attendance, waiting to string you along.
Sadly, as in past years, there is scant musical representation from the rest of the continent. Venturing into the outer reaches of fringe musical theatre may, however, reveal some diamonds in the dust. In addition to Intersections: Swiss/Africa, Dizu Plaatjies will also be appearing in Turn to the Traveller, which will take you to "the border posts of Oshikango in Angola and Beitbridge in Zimbabwe, blurring the geographic, political and theatrical perceptions of fiction and reality". Plaatjies will be performing this work with Victor Gama and Chiwoniso Maraire at the Princess Alice on 2, 3, 4 and 5 July.
And there's more
Also on the Fringe musical theatre programme is the premiere of Shanti Lo – in Concert, at the Kingswood Theatre, featuring "Botswana's finest creative and performance talent" and, in addition to a live band and backup singers, Shanti Lo is "poised to set the stage on fire with his passionate and powerful voice".
If you get out of that one alive, head for the safety of the main stage at the Rhodes Theatre for the world premiere of Do You Know Billie Holiday? This is a dramatisation, punctuated by music, of a period in the legendary jazz singer's life just after she was found guilty of drug possession.
And, to round off your Festival experience with an authentically home-grown concoction of rare potency, catch Busi Mhlongo in concert at the Guy Butler Theatre on Saturday 11 July.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 Cue Online. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
