Posts Tagged ‘international’

When did you first realise that you wanted to pursue a career as a DJ?

Maybe around 1996 – 3 years after I started to play in clubs. Cause in the beginning I did dj without looking at it like a career.

How would you describe your sound?

House. In all its different meanings.

This is not your first trip to SA. Tell us about your previous experience in South Africa.

I had a great time the last time there. I didn’t know what to expect and I was super happy afterwards that I had the chance to go there. The last time I was there with the help of the Goethe institute. Someone from the institute took us around and showed as places we wouldn’t have discovered without the help of someone that lives there.

How would you describe the Berlin underground dance scene these days? Is it moving away from minimal and more towards deep?

It’s a healthy and very good scene. Maybe the best in the world. Does it move towards deep? It did that already 1,5 years ago.

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The Cape Town International Jazz Festival has proved many skeptics wrong. When the organisers launched the event in 2000, many felt that the event, like other previous attempts to have an annual international jazz festival on the African continent, would fizzle out.  In April 03-04, the festival which attracted 33 500 people this year, turns ten.

Cape Town International Jazz Fest 2008

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I’m not even gonna try and pretend that I know anything about Hip Hop Pantsula. He’s been around way longer than I’ve been writing about the SA music scene – six albums now – and from the sounds of things, he’s just that type of crossover act you’ve gotta see once. Since picking up a SAMA (Best Rap Album 2008) a few weeks ago, South Africa’s ‘It Kid’ has – in a nutshell – got white people dancing. Don’t make me put up photos. These things are just best left to be.

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Just thought we’d treat y’all to a couple more exclusive Overtone vids from the Cape Town International Jazz Festival, which ignited the Mother City this weekend. Take a look below, and also hit our YouTube Channel for more exciting South African and international acts.

Zola: “If it weren’t for these security guards, ladies…” More Vids | Submit Vids

The Cape Town Jazz Fest: a general walk-through of the vibe. Very cool. More Vids | Submit Vids

The Bays: Live improvised dance act that doesn’t rehearse or release albums. More Vids | Submit Vids

Jimmy Dludlu in the Kippies Hall. More Vids | Submit Vids

The Jazz Fest is an annual feast of local and international talent. Once you’ve witnessed the sheer volume of the entertainment on offer, you’ll actually begin to see the capacity for live music culture in South Africa through those rose-tinted glasses you’ve been hearing about from us. In other words, you may be shy to part with your R300, but lemme tell you, we’re just gonna keep harping on about it until you go check it out for yourself. Then, with your ears, you’ll see. Even if, like me, you’re a musical idiot.

If you’re looking for an authoratitive review of the 2008 Cape Town International Jazz Festival, I’d rather you packed your supercool bags and checked somewhere else. I’d be making a mistake by giving the impression that I knew the difference between Vicky Sampson and a Go!TV presenter, but that aint gonna stop me. Nosireebob. The organisers were kind enough to provide me with a heaven-sent pass that allowed me free beer, steak kebabs and Internet access under the guise of actually doing some investigative journalistic work, and by microwave-bloated marshmallows, I’m gonna give them some kinda report in return. It’s the least I could do, but just so you know, I’d put in at least another half an hour if the gravy was a tad more rich. Here we go.

Zola: “If It Weren’t For These Security Guards, Ladies…”. .

Ok, I do make it sound a little less exciting than it was. It was HUGE. And FUN! And contagiously, jealousy-inspiringly ENERGETIC! A sardine sea of faces flooded the foyer after Oliver Mtukudzi played his last note, and the place was like Grand Central Station on September 11th. And the acts that crowded the place were no less plentiful. In the two evenings on offer, I’d only managed to check out a fraction of the 40 acts on offer; Mike Mainieri and Steps Ahead, Javon Jackson Superband (feat hotshot grandpappy Miles Davis drummer Jimmy Cobb), SA blues stalwart Jimmy Dludlu, UK improv dance act The Bays, a couple of talented geriatrics called The Manhattans, Sergio Mendes, Lee Ritenour (both blanks) and Zola.

What do you think of Jimmy Dludlu? More Vids | Submit Vids

Ok — where to start? Let’s do it backwards. Zola7. The new hero of my life. Sorry, girlfriend, I now love mainly him, and the fact that I bragged my way into the photographer’s pit to catch him up close. Wowser, what a show. Being white and therefore completely ignorant (and, unlike some, not pretending to know what ‘Mdlwembe‘ means), I was under the impression that Zola’s entire act was based on a post-apartheid demographic-trapping of a rising black middle class through singing in both English and Xhosa and releasing a polyphonic tsunami of ringtones. For the most part, I was right, but this marketing attack dilutes not the power and spectacle of the man’s crafted live show. In a stitched cotton T and suede loafers, Zola got an almost-gospel happiness going, and word on the street is that he’s a pretty good thing for SA music all in all. Helping kids and the like. More of that, please people.

All that’s to be said about both Lee Ritenour and Sergio Mendes is that they’re probably big names in some circles, but not the one above the letters ‘o, v, e, r, t, o, n, e’ at the top of this page. I find there’s a lot of hype about certain jazz musicians, and I’d rather listen to the music than the moniker. Great music, but kinda like listening to a CD instead of a live show.

As old-school showmen from an era of departed chivalry, The Manhattans are often credited for popularising dance music, and influencing future acts such as the Jackson Five and Madonna. Grabbing the prime spot on Friday night, four bright, white suits made the stage of the central Kippies Hall, and with syrup-smooth R&B vocal harmonies transfixed more than one woman over 40. And no, it’s not the ‘Klippies Hall’.

I had the foot-happy pleasure of catching Jimmy Dludlu twice; once at the free community concert on Wednesday in Greenmarket Square (if you’re one of those who constantly bitches about SA not being ‘international’ enough, get to this concert next year – party in the street, yo.) The other was on the Saturday night, at around beer-thirty. He’s a pretty good act from my humble point of view, but attracts criticism from others I know for being ‘boring’ and ‘cliched’. Needless to say, technical ability aplenty doesn’t always equate with stage presence. But tell that to the 3000 people who couldn’t sit still.

And then, there were The Bays. Ah. Separate article is the least that they deserve: check it out here.

The Jazz Fest is an annual feast of local and international talent. Once you’ve witnessed the sheer volume of the entertainment on offer, you’ll actually begin to see the capacity for live music culture in South Africa through those rose-tinted glasses you’ve been hearing about from us. In other words, you may be shy to part with your R300, but lemme tell you, we’re just gonna keep harping on about it until you go check it out for yourself. Then, with your ears, you’ll see. Even if, like me, you’re a musical idiot.

“Technical ability aplenty doesn’t always equate with stage presence. But tell that to the 3000 people who couldn’t sit still.”