Joy of Jazz festival to mark its 20th anniversary in style
22 August 2017
The upcoming 20th edition of the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz festival promises to be a stimulating event that will see world-renowned jazz artists from around the world converging on the Sandton Convention for a magical jazz experience from 28-30 September.
This year’s festival, which is supported by the City of Johannesburg, will see more than 30 acts from around the globe performing over three days on four stages.
The dazzling line-up includes heavyweights such as Hugh Masekela, Abdullah Ibrahim, Caiphus Semenya, Jonas Gwangwa, Thandiswa Mazwai, Branford Marsalis (US), The Clayton Brothers (US), Musiq Soulchild (US), Christian McBride (US), Nnenna Freelon (US), the Joshua Redman Quartet (US) and many more.
Joy of Jazz Executive Producer Peter Tladi says the festival is celebrating an important milestone.
“We’re celebrating 20 years of giving jazz lovers only the best,” says Tladi.
He says the concert’s promotions company, T-Musicman, will also be celebrating its 30th anniversary in the industry. Tladi added that this year’s line-up is the result of the hard work and passion invested in the creation of one of Africa’s most important jazz festivals.
“We’ll be celebrating artists who have built the festival over the years. We’ve some of the legends in the industry such as Hugh Masekela, Caiphus Semenya, Abdullah Ibrahim and Jonas Gwangwa, who will host other great musicians on the four stages – Dinaledi, Conga, Mbira and Diphala,” says Tladi.
The line-up appeals to a wide spectrum of music fans. “There’s something for everyone in this line-up. The event reinforces its status as South Africa’s foremost jazz festival and one of the best on the continent,” says Tladi.
The Food Court stage will host 10 unsigned groups identified through Discover, a programme run on Facebook.
“We had 75 groups that showed interest but only 10 could be part of the festival. We also have interns working with us and they’re gaining a lot of experience. We pride ourselves in working with young entrepreneurs and want them to go back to their communities and implement what they learnt,” says Tladi.
Other highlights will include performances by the Standard Bank National Youth Jazz Band and highly regarded South African guitarist, composer, producer and teacher Selaelo Selota.
Tickets are on sale at Computicket at R795 for a day pass and R1 350 for a two-day pass. The two-day pass provides access for Friday and Saturday.