Joy of jazz ends on a high note

 

Thousands of fans packed the Sandton Convention Centre to see their favourite artists at the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz festival which took place at the weekend.

Vocal jazz artists such as Sibongile Khumalo, Gregory Porter, Dianne Reeves had fans on their feet dancing the night away.

 

British R&B singer and songwriter Billy Ocean was the highlight of the festival on Friday and Saturday. He took fans down memory lane with his old time classics – Get Out of My Car; Suddenly and Caribbean Queen among many others.

 

Unlike the previous festivals that were held at Newtown and fans had to buy separate tickets for each stage, this year’s Joy of Jazz saw fans being able to use one ticket to access all four stages (Dinaledi, Conga, Mbira and Diphala) at less cost.

 

As usual, the festival brought a diverse line-up sprinkled with some R&B/ Neo-Soul artists such as Dwele from the USA and local artists from collaborations that included Sounds of Democracy (Press; Malik; Samkelo Mdolomba; Brian Temba; Max Hoba and Bo Manamela);  Mzansi Voices (Asanda Bam, Lindiwe Maxolo and  Wanda Baloyi; Brenda Mtambo, Thiwe Mbola and Nomfunda Xaluva) and Jazz Divas (Sibongile Khumalo, Melanie Scholtz, Tutu Puoane, Sibongile Khumalo & Gloria Bosman).

 

Owner of the company that organises the festival, T-Music Man - Peter Tladi cited logistical problems and the growing number of audiences for the festival’s move to Sandton. The company has signed a five-year contract that will see the festival being hosted for the duration.