Joy at Jozi’s jazz fest as big guns come out firing
16 September 2016
The 19th edition of the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz festival got off to a rousing start on Thursday night with the big guns coming out to play on the first of the three-night musical extravaganza at the Sandton Convention Centre.
On the Dinaledi Stage – one of four stages scattered around the majestic venue, which will host a total of 25 performances over three days – trumpeter Dr Johnny Mekoa and his protégés from the Music Academy of Gauteng set the ball rolling with a mouth-watering performance that started just after 8pm.
For the next hour after opening remarks by Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa, Mekoa and his young and talented charges signalled that Mzansi’s jazz music is in good hands.
In the audience were former president Kgalema Motlanthe and Gauteng Premier David Makhura.
Then out came the big gun – Mister of Smooth himself – jazz maestro Bob James around 10pm. Clearly not needing any introduction, James got straight to business and let his fingers do the talking.
Caressing the piano and ably supported by the three-man band of instrumentalists, James delivered a flawless performance of crowd-favourite hits, top among them “Feel Like Making Love”. His crisp, smooth sounds reverberated through the near-capacity Dinaledi Stage with the audience singing and clapping along.
A dozen crowd favourites later and several standing ovations, he obliged to calls for an encore, before disappearing behind the curtain.
Then it was time for the son of the soil, Jonathan Butler, and his American counterpart, Gerald Albright, to jazz things up even more. And they did not disappoint.
Dubbed Mzansi’s best jazz export, Butler was glad to be home with a repertoire jazz, blues and gospel stretching from the groovy 1980s to the upbeat 1990s. Among them were a hearty rendition of Bob Marley’s “No Woman No Cry” and “Do You Love Me”.
Albright’s playlist included James Brown’s “It’s a Man, Man’s World” and Frankie Beverley’s “Soul Train”. The rendition of “Georgia on My Mind” sent the audience into raptures. Albright, in an iconic Madiba shirt, was impressive, blowing the audience away with his energetic and enthusiastic performance.
The fun continues on Friday September 16 and Saturday September 17 with line-ups including Grammy Award-winner Wouter Kellerman, Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse, Sibongile Khumalo, Judith Sephuma, Ringo Mandlingozi, Kendrick Scott, the National Youth Jazz Band, Ester Rada, McCoy Mrubata and many other artists from Mozambique, United States, Israel, Switzerland, Cuba, the Netherlands, Canada and Senegal.
Earlier, Minister Mthethwa thanked organisers T-Musicman and all the sponsors, among them the City of Johannesburg, Tsogo Sun, Samro and Gauteng Tourism for supporting the jazz festival.