the World in Grahamstown

What an intense, inspiring and exhausting 10 days it was: to name it in full (deep breath): The Standard Bank National Jazz Festival, incorporating the National Youth Jazz Festival. I totally love the Arts Festival at Grahamstown - there are many fond and marvellous memories of each one I have attended (since the first with a Carpenters Show in 1995). With so much theatre, music, ballet, art, all swirling about in one place I am in absolute heaven. (Although whenever I go as part of the Jazz festival there is little time for me to take in all the plays I eagerly mark in my program... this year I saw only one. I am threatening to go next year purely as an audience member... which I haven't managed to do in all my years of festival-going!)

The jazz part of the Festival has grown into an incredible microcosm of International relations interwoven with a vibrant Youth Element. This year was no disappointment - some of the world's best and SA's finest met and made music together.
Musical highlights for me personally: Danilo Perez (Panama) with Hein Van De Geyn (Netherlands) Frode Nymo (Norway) and Kesivan Naidoo (SA) What spontaneous joy, what excitement and breath-catching glee!
Hein van de Geyn (love Hein) playing in duo with delightful singer Paulien Van Schaik, from Holland. Exquisite exquisite exquisite.
The Cape All Stars with the inimitable Robbie Jansen - how lucky I count myself to have caught that concert, 2 weeks before Robbie left this world.

And of course my own concerts. The other two members of my trio from Japan - the a.s.k trio - journeyed across oceans to play together in South Africa for the first time. Seigo Matsunaga (Japan) and Sebastiaan Kaptein (Netherlands, and now Japan) are my wonderful co-collaborators in this project, and I was eager to show them off to my friends, fans and colleagues here in SA. We did two concerts in Grahamstown, and two in Cape Town. And in between there was a whole lot of enthusiastic soccer-watching, some sight-seeing, a little beer-drinking-via-vuvuzela and even a bit of Game viewing at Addo Elephant Park (my thanks to the giraffe for their spectacular late entrance, timing was impeccable, what a finale!)
Our concerts went off really well ( it is always great to play to a capacity audience at the Nassau Centre in Cape Town - thanks to the endeavours of organiser, Cliff Wallis). It was truly gratifying, and humbling, to receive comments like "Your music is healing" and "Your trio is so organic." Although ideally we're all supposed to believe in what we do, disregarding the opinions of others, the truth of the matter is that comments like these help so much to confirm that something is working as it should...

The real highlight of the SBN Jazz festival at Grahamstown, for me, is being involved with the Youth Jazz festival. This year was no exception - hundreds of young, talented musicians from around the country descended upon the Halls and classrooms of the DSG School Campus, bringing with them their energy and enthusiasm, and interacting and teaching them is a true privilege.

This year's festival was alive with many wonderful international singers - how lucky were we to interact with such remarkable people. The singing students' swelled to number around 80, as we were joined by 20 young singers from Germany, who were visiting as part of the Young Voices Of Brandenburg, together with their director, Marc Secara (who is no slouch in the singing department himself). Workshops were often convened under the big tree near the fountain under the wintry sun, as our little room could barely hold the numbers. The workshops included exercises in free vocal expression conducted by French singer Lucia Recio, memory and warm-up games involving physical collages led by Marc, coaching sessions accompanied by a professional (and patient) rhythm section with German singer Natascha Roth and Paulien Van Schaik, and an inspirational talk from Sibongile Khumalo (the students are still in awe...) .

And a very proud teacher was I at this year's festival for numerous reasons (and number them, I shall):
1. 3 out of the four singing students to make it to the final selection of the National Youth Band were UCT students.
2. Sandile Gontsana, one of my post-graduate students was the person the panel selected.
3. Sandile was no less than cooking on his National Youth Band performance! He has not been dubbed the Scatman for nothing!
4. My newly established (6 months old) UCT Jazz Vocal Ensemble was selected as the best Ensemble at UCT, and were sponsored by the UCT College of Music to go to Grahamstown to perform.
5. They worked so very very hard, rehearsing every day for over a month. And it showed - their performance was spectacular! Watch out New York Voices...
6. My 2010 Festival Youth Choir sang so beautifully - not an easy task to master unfamiliar jazz vocal harmonies in just a few days. (The choir comprised only High School Students - I tell you South Africans have the gift of song in abundance)

The Vocal Celebration Concert on the last evening of the Youth Festival was a vibrant affair. So marvellous to witness the excitement of these young singers as they took the stage to swing their stuff. Various soloists, a duet from two talented High School singers, the UCT Ensemble, and we closed the evening with 3 songs from our Festival Youth Choir, who absolutely sang their hearts out. As Paulien said to me afterwards "You are so lucky to be part of this - the joy on their faces is so precious". Precious indeed.

Hamba kakuhle umhlobo wam

My manager and friend, the indomitable Martin Drake, left this world on 19 March 2010, and left a gaping hole in the lives of his family, friends and the artists (2 of us) he had been championing.
I was grateful to have spoken to him earlier that Friday. And after I got the call from his wife on Friday night, I sat in silence for a long time. Out of the silence came a simple melody, and this song.
I hope to pay tribute to Martin this Sunday when I sing this at the Cape Town International Jazz Festival. Just hope to be able to keep myself together a little better than I did when I sang it at his memorial service. Crying and singing do not work at the same time. Well no matter, I will be crying-singing it for you Mart.

Requiem
Lala umhlobo wam
ngoxolo 'mhlobo wam.
Lala ngoxolo 'mhlobo wam
In the madness of this frenzied world.
Where the preying vultures circle and wait.
When it seems I sing my songs a-lone,
And I think I've lost my faith.
It comes softly through the passing days
That I'll never walk my path alone.
There is one more guardian at my side to stand me by.
Lala umhlobo wam
ngoxolo 'mhlobo wam.
Lala ngoxolo 'mhlobo wam
And I cannot find the words this night
That could sketch a life lived so very large.
How do you tell in simple words?
Of the brightness of one star.
As I sit in silence and reflect,
It is clear to me that I've been blessed.
I've been championed by the very best,
He stood me by
And so this thought I hold to my heart:
Embrace each precious day.
And live in colour don't be afraid
To give your love with open hands.
Ndicula
Lala umhlobo wam
ngoxolo 'mhlobo wam.
Lala ngoxolo 'mhlobo wam

watch out here it comes

Another year has whisked by, here we sit in the big 2010. SA's year of world attention. It feels like 2009 flashed by in a rather unheralded blur, but this year holds the promise of so very much for me, and I hope for many. Have not published this blog before, (wrote the odd post and left it languish in the cyber-ether) but having enjoyed reading the blogs of a few other writers, thought perhaps it would be an interesting way to connect with people. And something of an outlet too, perhaps.

So I took myself off for a few days, on a solitary sojourn to farmlands and wide wide spaces. An attempt to replenish what 2009 has drained from me, and to find some peace before a very busy year begins in earnest. What a marvellous thing to do, so enjoyed long walks (albeit accompanied by an ever faithful troop of flies) and long periods of sitting and staring and listening (it is not quiet - but the sounds are a perfect soundtrack) and more sitting, and some writing. I made my first braai, all by my lone, so proud of my perfectly cooked sausages and delectable roasted vegetables.

Now here comes the year charging at me head on:
Newly appointed Jazz Vocal Lecturer at UCT am I, with so many ideas and plans.
I will perform on the Cape Town International Jazz Festival for the first time, with my trio. SO excited, but cannot quite find the music yet. Trusting that it will come soon. Plans to record this project in a live concert....
A new acoustic project underway, with my favourite guitarist and mad genius, Dave Ledbetter, oh he-of-newly-discovered-alternate-tunings. Plans to record this project too...
And now planning and setting up my annual Jazz In The Park Fund Raising concert for the Health and Wellness Centre, with my littleBIGband. Publicity, poster design, arrangements to write, band rehearsals....so much so much.
Far into the year plans to try and bring my fellow a.s.k trio band-mates over to SA from Japan. They are jumping up and down with excitement about watching some world cup soccer, so we hope to combine that with a few concerts, and possibly a recording too. Maybe they'll even see a bit of Cape Town in between...
Seigo (bass player and mover-shaker) is already putting things in place for another Asia tour for us in September, with gigs in Tokyo again (yippee!!) and a possible Jazz Festival on a South Korean Island.
Not The Midnight Mass plans also afoot, what fun, and I will be also assisting Graham Weir with orchestrating his new Opera later in the year.
And oh, in between all of this a whole bunch of teaching will be going on.... Somewhere perhaps I'll get to go and watch some plays, a movie or two, mow the lawn...
Man, I tell ya, I bless each and every day of this life of mine - so very privileged am I to do what I do.