Represent Review: Soweto Wine Festival
The Matrix get’s his first shot at wine-tasting and find’s himself seduced by the sensuality of it all. Sounds like something you don’t want to miss next year! Sharpile Reuben for always Representin’ – particularly when your assignment is so awful *wink*. See some pics here. This weekend Soweto was encased in charcoal roasted casks fresh from the Mother City as Cape Town’s best and not so best wine cellars eagerly perspired and promoted, hoping to gain favour with the pockets of the wealthy, novice, bargain hunters and the enthused! On Saturday night the Standard Bank sponsored grounds of the University of Johannesburg in the heart of Black Diamond economy were sprawling like a fishermen’s Mediterranean village at the Standard Bank Soweto Wine Festival 2007. Wine connoisseurs from all over the Rand sipped the fine, bold and crystal liquid as famous Stellenbosch cellars like Kanonkop (Canon Hill) Wine Estate served their best of the best. Kanonkop wine is gently and slowly fermented and aged to perfection in fire roasted-wooden casks for more than two years in order to give it it’s smooth full-body and the fervent after-taste that just makes you crave even more of their famous Cabernet Sauvignon. For me, the night was too young and choices too many for one to be over-indulging in just a few samples of cape liquid gold, especially when I took into account the number of Wine Estates represented at the event and all that tasting that still needed to be done. I wanted to have a well balanced and well informed cask (Pun intended!) of the entire event… and thus I prepared myself for what was inevitable with the task at hand – a heavy babalas! Representahs! I don’t know about you, but my knowledge of wine (before Saturday that is) was limited to what I saw on the store racks and the self-crowned cook shows on BBC-Food. However, right now i believe that i’m in a more informed state to “school” you all about the age old art of distillery that is Wine Making. Okay, now (what did I jot down…okay here it is), apparently, wine unlike beer or spirits can’t be fermented (this is wine jargon for crushing grapes and filtering the liquid with a mixture of other stabilizers in huge wooden barrels called Casks, more like those in the Jack Daniels Ads on TV, Ah…you see not so difficult is it?), at just any location and not all vines are suited for Wine making or rather superior quality wine making. I was also informed that you specifically need Mediterranean weather in order for the fields to yield delicious grapes, hence the Cape’s winter rainfall being well suited for South Africa’s...
A night out in Jozi– Dinner, Show & a Shooting
“It’s not even Christmas yet” my friend said to me, as we listen to more bad news… Now you know Editorista resists all negative submissions, especially whingers who send in complaints about crime etc. This story was written by Heather as a dedication to a mutual friend Justin Brown, who was horrifically murdered a few weeks ago defending his family – I publish this story because it’s a documentation of the crazy goldrush wild west we find ourselves living in in Jozi, these are the days of our lives: O.K. so first I have to admit I went to see Air Supply. I didn’t tell a soul about it, I mean how naff right? But my man and I are soppy romantics at heart and remember listing to “All out of Love” and “Making Love out of Nothing at All” in our pre-teens (yes that long ago – it is their 30th anniversary of being Air Supply, afterall). This being a child-free weekend for me (the little man safely off with his dad), we decided to make an evening of it. My auditor love has not gambled before (using real money as opposed to a roulette boardgame!) so I was determined to introduce him to the thrill of the game. It has been awhile since I’ve been to see an international act since I always get a bit freaked out by large crowds, but braved it anyway. The opening act was Alter and Irving – Cindy Alter from Clout and Stewart Irving from Ballyhoo. They were great, playing classics from their respective band’s hey days including “Substitute” and “Superstar”. I knew we were old when we remembered the words and could sing along! Cindy and Stewart also did a fab version of Patti Smythe’s “Sometimes Love Just Ain’t Enough”. When Air Supply arrived on stage, after a sparkling intro by MC, the Springs Boy – Tom London, I gasped as I saw how they had aged. I had seen the posters and seen some pics from the interviews, but somehow on stage, it seemed a little strange. I wondered how time had affected their voices….. And then they started to sing…. time has not affected their voices. All the memories came flooding back and I got all soft and marshmallowy inside as they took us back to classics like Lost in Love, Here I am and Two Less Lonely People. Their connection with the audience was fantastic– especially those of the middle-aged, female variety! But what I thought was amazing was the fact that they actually came down and walked through the audience- shaking hands, kissing and hugging audience members. It built up a most...
SA doccie on show in the Big Apple
Editorista remembers seeing Zim Ngqawana playing jazz in the Netherlands at a festival, it was a moment of such pride tempered with intense home sickness for home sweet Africa as Zim’s music washed over the room, captivating the audience. Any African’s or anyone interested in African Jazz and our stories in general in and around New York City, catch Zim live as he sets the tone for the SA jazz doccie entitled “Unyazi of the Bushveld” that’s showing at the “Columbia Harlem Festival of Global Jazz Documentary Film” festival: African Noise Foundation is proud to announce the selection of a South African documentary production for screening in the prestigious Columbia University Columbia Harlem Festival of Global Jazz Documentary Film. The 29 september screening will be preceded by a concert of the Zim Ngqawana Quartet on 28 september. “Unyazi of the Bushveld” (2007). Aryan Kaganof, director (South Africa). 45 min. The Zulu word “unyazi” can be translated into English as “lightning,” an apposite double image of rupture and new beginnings for UNYAZI 2005, Africa’s first festival of electronic music, the brainchild of new music composer Dimitri Voudouris. Aryan Kaganof’s documentary on this singular historical event is suitably non-linear in structure, as it explores the complex relationship, both assumed and actual, among technology, the African and Afrodiasporic worlds, and the multiculturalism that mediates them. We are presented with a vision freed from the romantically anti-technological stances of the early Nègritude movement (and that of 1960s American black cultural nationalisms), and the concomitant assumptions that nothing of a technological nature can emerge from a black-ruled world. But we are never far from South Africa’s recent history. Until this festival, jazz drummer Louis Moholo, exiled since the early 1960s, had never been on the campus of Johannesburg’s University of the Witwatersrand–or rather, as he commented drily, “We came, but they chased us off with dogs. That was...
Afronism in Newtown
Nothing like a good birthday bash, reminiscing on the years gone by and the way you and your life has changed. Particularly if you are a small creative business that has managed to stay open and rocking for more than a few months in this big dog eats small dog goldrush in Jozi. Congrats to one of our favourite galleries, Afronova, they’re celebrating their second birthday with a retrospective exhibition. Happyyyyyy! So soak up the awesome “Spring in the city” in Newtown @ Afronova: AFRONISM Friday 14 September from 18:00 to 20:00 Followed by the Artists Dinner at Gramadoelas Restaurant Afronism is an exhibition of original works by Gera Mawi Mazgabu, Samson Mnisi, Sandile Zulu , Gonçalo Mabunda, Helen Joseph, Wayne Barker, Birame Ndiaye, Karl Gietl , Bill Ainslie, Nontsikelelo Veleko, Strangelove, Joël Mpah Dooh, Léon Radegonde, Mario Benjamin , Malick Sidibé, Billie Zangewa and Petros Ghebrehiwot. Exhibition runs until Saturday 13 October With the kind support of the French Institute of South Africa ARTIST DINNER @ GRAMADOELAS R100 at the door This is a convivial and adventurous platform to enjoy the gastronomy and the company of artists. The legendary Gramadoelas Restaurant is famous for its Cape Malay and African delights as well as its generous wine sharing. RSVP: afronova@tiscali.co.za Gallery Hours Tuesday to Friday: 13:00 to 19:00 Saturday: 13:00 to 17:00 Contact e: afronova@tiscali.co.za w: http://www.afronova.com/ c: +27 (0) 83 726 59 06 The gallery is just across the Market Theatre entrance Safe parking corner Miriam Makeba and Gwigwi Mrwebi...
Represent Trend: Melk van Daisy de Melker.
Editorista was offered a sip of the most delicious yet lethal drink at a recent Spring bash. Called after Jozi’s most notorious female serial killer, Daisy de Melker, the drink has a latent yet subtle kick. The chocolate flavoured milky beverage has a lumpy but not unpleasant consistency (to most). It’s made from a secret recipe that supposedly includes a large quantity of herbs – and we’re not talking Sage. *smack* Baie Lekker Daisy. Can anyone tell us a little more about a DDM and maybe how this Jozi trend got started? We like...
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