July 24, 2006
By Tammy O'Reilly
IF you're not fanatical about jazz music, then names like Jamie Cullum and Branford Marsalis probably mean nothing to you. If you are a fan, then you'll be thrilled to know that these maestros make up only a fraction of the artists lined up for the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz festival.
From 24 to 26 August, the sounds of jazz will dominate the air in Newtown as seven spots in the entertainment precinct as well as the Standard Bank Arena in the Ellis Park Precinct will be showcasing a diversity of established and flourishing artists from abroad and locally.
The festival has been an annual event since 1997 and has been known to attract more than 20 000 jazz fans from all over South Africa, neighbouring states as well as visitors from abroad.
"As the festival promoter we spent a great deal of time searching for artists that will appeal to a broad of music fans, whether they are young fans of Jamie Cullum or serious enough about jazz to want to see an artist of Brandford Marsalis's calibre, or who simply love the music brewed here in South Africa," says Peter Tladi, the chief executive of T-Musicman, the company organising the festival.
The Newtown venues are the Market Theatre, Nikki's Oasis, Shivava Café, Bassline, the Laboratory, the Mbira Stage and Mary Fitzgerald Square.
For the second year in a row, a specially designed Jazz dome will be erected at the square, complete with big screens, stage and lighting where artists like Jimmy Dludlu, Themba Mkhize and Jonathan Butler will perform.
There's a cracker of an opening night planned with British wunderkind Jamie Cullum and the hugely successful South African export Jonathan Butler performing at the Standard Bank Arena.
On 25 August, the Grammy Award-winning saxophonist Marsalis will perform at Bassline, while the main stage at the Market Theatre will host legendary composer and pianist Ramsey Lewis.
Also signed up on the second day bill is South Africa's Johnny Clegg who will be performing alongside Cape Town band Tucan Tucan on the Mbira Stage.
"We have some of the best jazz performers in the world coming to this year's festival. However, many jazz festivals around the world also invite artists from different genres and we have invited some of this continents most influential performers who have broken cultural barriers to perform," says promoter Mantwa Chinoamadi.
"Lagbaja is a real coup, as is Johnny Clegg who is perceived as a man who broke through cultural barriers from a predominantly Zulu culture to world music and he represents traditional and modern dance in one."
The highlights on the final day of the festival are performances by Jamie Cullum and Brenda Russell at the Jazz Dome as well as an appearance by the controversial but popular Nigerian artist Lagbaja on the Mbira Stage.
For a complete programme visit T-Musicman.
Tickets for the festival are available from Computicket. Entrance is free to the Newtown venues, Shivava and Nikki's Oasis, where developing artists will be performing.
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