Catch all the activities as Sandton prepares for Standard Bank Joy of Jazz
Sandton becomes the centre of the jazz universe for the whole week with a series of free performances, concerts and activations as part of the build up to the weekend of the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz festival. Standard Bank Joy of Jazz – which will attract more than 30 000 fans when it takes place at the Sandton Convention Centre from September 25 to 27 – injects approximately R600 million annually into the Gauteng economy. Says Alida Canevari, chairperson of the Sandton Tourism Association: “Sandton is geared and ready to welcome Standard Bank Joy of Jazz. It has been embraced by all our members and there’s plenty on offer for everyone visiting – even if they aren’t lucky enough to have secured tickets to this world class festival. Sandton is the place to be this September.” The action takes place at Sandton City and Nelson Mandela Square as well as other Sandton establishments. Sandton City’s Checkers Forecourt will host performances at 10h15, 11h15 and 14h10 from Heritage Day on Wednesday, September 24, toSaturday, September 27. Included in the line-up are Thandokazi, the Bushy Obazana Jazz Band, Shoe Lace and Gurulogic. Buskers will be performing in Nelson Mandela Square from noon until 16h00 from September 24 to 27. There will also be performances at a number of restaurants in the Sandton precinct. Friday September 26 • Riffs Bar and Grill (Garden Court Sandton City) 19h00 – 20h00 Ayo Solanke; 20h30 – 21h30 – Gurulogic • Parc Ferme (8 Maude Street) 19h00 – 20h00 Cloud Notes Experiment; 20h30 – 21h30 Native 2120 • Hard Rock Café (Nelson Mandela Square) 19h00 – 20h00 Kyle McDonald; 20h30 – 21h30 Lunggie • Pappas Greek Restaurant (Nelson Mandela Square) 19h00 – 20h00 Leandro; 20h30 – 21h30 Throwback Saturday September 27 • Riffs Bar and Grill (Garden Court Sandton City) 19h00 – 20h00 Victor Kgantlape; 20h30 – 21h30 Amandla Freedom Ensemble • Parc Ferme (8 Maude Street) 19h00 – 20h00 Csana; 20h30 – 21h30 Bushy Obazana Jazz Band • Hard Rock Café (Nelson Mandela Square) 19h00 – 20h00 Hendrick Mboweni; 20h30 – 21h30 Bongi Mvuyana • Pappas Greek Restaurant (Nelson Mandela Square) 19h00 – 20h00 Spha Mdlalose; 20h30 – 21h30 Sebenzile Mthombeni Meanwhile Jazz meets Lounge at the San Deck at Tsogo Sun’s Sandton Sun Hotel, official hotel sponsor of Standard Bank Joy of Jazz, onSunday, September 21, and Sunday, September 28, from 14h30 until late. It features Metro FM’s Nothemba Madumo and Jazzy Vez. Entrance is free. The Maslow Hotel also has a number of activities: • Sunday, September 21, and Sunday, September 28, from 13h00 to 17h00 – Jazz Sunday Gourmet Braai with a live performance by the Johannesburg Youth Band (JYO)at the Lacuna Bistro. Cost is R250 a person and includes a glass of bubbly. • Monday, September 22, to Friday, September 26 from 18h00 to 21h00 – Jazz evenings at Lacuna Bistro and Bar every evening with the JYO. DAVINCI Hotel and Suites on Nelson Mandela...
Heading Art or Sport? Car spinning – a culture explored
Spina Guluva is a 13 part magazine documentary on the old age street culture of spinning cars, brand new on eKasi+ channel 105 on OpenView HD. Car spinning used to be synonymous with car theft and township gangsterism in the ‘90s. The stereotype is that drag racing and spinning stolen gusheshes (BMW 3 series) was commonly used to show respect at funerals of gangsters. The show is presented by actress, dancer, choreographer, singer and businesswoman Khabonina Qubheka who grew up watching this informal motorsport. The first episode interrogates the roots of spinning and the origins of the stereotypes by speaking to a group that were part of the spinning culture back when it started. Spinning has evidently experienced a major makeover as it is now recognised as an official, registered motor sport, but is still not completely legal. Spinners across the country are fighting to regulate their sport in an attempt to attract interest and sponsors. They still face hostility from authorities, hence spinning occurs on the streets and informal stadiums, mostly at night time. The show explores the multi-faceted culture in places such as Soweto, Witbank, Mpumalanga, Alberton, and a town dubbed the World Cup venue of spinning: the Vaal. Spinners come from across the Southern Hemisphere to pit themselves against the best in the region. Featured on the show is the 2nd event and there is an expected audience of 15 000 people. Host of Spina Guluva Khabonina Qubheka Catch Spina Guluva on the eKasi+ channel 105 on OpenView HD Sunday, 19 October 2014 at...
Absa Joburg City Festival, taking place across Joburg City from October 2 -5th
The recently announced Absa Joburg City Festival, taking place across Joburg City from October 2 -5th will see an amazing array of entertainment on offer in a diversity of venues all showcasing the vibrant energy and culture of one of Africa’s largest cities. Ten main festival venues will host some of South Africa’s most loved artists from Johnny Clegg and Jack Parow to Loyiso Gola and Amanda Strydom. With an additional 50 + fringe venues offering an incredible range of food, drink and entertainment, the 4 days of the festival will be a celebration of the regeneration of the city centre. On Saturday, 4 October the Springboks take on New Zealand at Ellis Park Stadium. To mark the occasion, Absa will align its sponsorship of the Springboks with that of the Festival by hosting the popular Boktown at Absa Campus and supporting the Fan Mile from Absa Campus to Ellis Park Stadium via Maboneng. To coincide with the opening of the Festival, the Absa Art Gallery will unveil a new collection and the Absa Money Museum will showcase artifacts pertaining to the city’s 128-year history. Atterbury Property will launch Newtown Junction, comprising a shopping centre, offices, a hotel, a gym and 2 400 underground parking bays. It will also be the venue for a number of public performances by various artists during the Festival. All ten festival venues are linked via the Rea Vaya bus system, and festival passes with transport included will be available as the festival approaches. Event tickets for the Joburg City Festival are on-sale from August 16th on www.joburgfest.co.za .In a ticketing first for South Africa, and to encourage attendance at as many events as possible, a sliding scale applies, whereby the more tickets you buy, the less you...
Connecting with the world through music
Durban-based country pop duo Connecting Stars has taken the American country world by storm after smashing into the Billboard Adult Contemporary charts at number 30 with their single Stuck, just days before they set off to play several dates across America. Represent chatted to them about the whole experience… 1. You’re number 28 on the Adult Contemporary Billboard Chart, an accomplishment for a South African duo. What does that mean to you? Getting onto the chart has been an amazing achievement for us as band. It is difficult to put into words, because we know with radio play there are no guarantees and even getting a song play-listed isn’t easy. So getting on the charts has been mind blowing for us and we are just so thrilled that our music has been so well received. 2. Please tell us more about your American tour? We have just returned from our 2 week whirlwind mini tour of the USA from 14-28 August. After achieving our first chart success in the US we wanted to introduce our live performance to the US market and we were privileged to perform at 4 iconic venues in the US where many bands got their start. In New York we played at the Rockwood Music Hall, in Nashville at Tin Roof, in Los Angeles at Room 5 Lounge and in San Diego at Lestats. We received an extremely positive reception from audiences and venue management alike and were unanimously invited to return. During our performances we got to meet and network with many local US bands and plan to collaborate with a number of them in future trips. We were also able to meet with a number of influential music industry stakeholders to expand our strategy in the US market including record label, publishing, radio promotion, public relations, booking and management executives. We also managed to fit in a number of TV, radio, magazine and online publication interviews and appearances. 3. How’s the music that side different to S.A’s music scene? The main difference is the size of the market. There are literally thousands of radio stations and hundreds of cities you can tour to. There are also thousands of bands trying to make it in the industry so there a lot of competition. 4. Out of all the cities you visited during your tour, which one would you say was your favourite? It is difficult to choose one, but I think it would be a toss us between San Diego and Nashville. 5. How do you find a balance of being a couple and musicians? Does it all come together and become one? It...
Unyazi IV Electronic Music Festival: Joburg 9th – 13th September
The fourth edition of Unyazi returns to Johannesburg with concerts, talks, workshops, demos, a sound installation and a listening room with a playlist of works by over 30 composers from around the world. Presented by NewMusicSA and curated by Carl Stone (US/Japan) and Cameron Harris of Wits, this international festival features work from around the world with special emphasis this year on music from South Africa and South East Asia. Visiting artists include Tomoko Momiyama (Japan), Kazuhisa Uchihashi (Japan), Alfred 23 Harth (Germany/S Korea), Ravish Momin (US) and Lukas Ligeti (Aut/US). South African-based composers and artists include Jill Richards, Frank Mallows, Brydon Bolton, Jonathan Crossley, Jono Sweetman, Jurgen Brauninger, Sazi Dlamini, Thabo Rapoo, Magda de Vries, Maxim Starcke, Mocke J van Veuren, Joao Orecchia, Marguerite Spies and Waldo Alexander. For more information, please...
Friday playlist: Albums we love
Artist: Trey Songz Album: T R I G G A In an interview with Yahoo Entertainment about the album, Trey Songz said “It’s my every emotion at this point in my life, it’s the good, the bad, the ugly, it’s the beautiful, its last night, its love, it’s hard-hitting beats, but beautiful keys. Its beautiful melodies, it’s so personal to me as well, of course I have songs that are impersonal, that are fun records that just want to get people to move and dance, but as you get to the depths and the layers of the album. We live in the days where people want to hear about the flaws and not perfections. The best albums happen to be the ones with strong lyrical content. The 17 track project is a blend of hip-hop and R&B, something that he’s successfully done well in the past. But what’s a Trey Songz album without them girls? Aha, same formula but that’s what works for him. Stand out tracks from the album are “Disrespectful” and “SmartPhones,” as well as “All We Do” and “Y.A.S. vocally, and production wise, Trigga is a solid commercial album. Some good turn up tunes you can enjoy from the album. Get the album here and you’ll know what we’re on about: http://goo.gl/8bbfHg Download Trey Songz’s Na Na (STWO Remix) for free here http://bit.ly/WfwYPa. Code expires: October 4 2014 Artist: Kelis Album: Food Food is the sixth studio album by Kelis, she describes the album as, “a kind of unspoken lovefest. In case you didn’t know, Kelis is a chef, maybe that’s what also influenced the album title and tracklist? It’s always cute when artists feature their children in their songs, we’ve seen Alicia Keys, Beyonce, Coldplay’s “Chris Martin” do it too. The album’s opening track “Breakfast” is introduced by Kelis’ four-year-old son Knight Jones, who speaks the monologue; “Hey guys! Are you hungry? My mom made food. The first track is catchy which makes you want to listen to the album to see it will be consistent throughout. Kelis’ husky voice is still the one to reckon with, with this album she delivered a plate full of soulfood for the soul. It’s kind of hard to box the album into one genre, or maybe it doesn’t need to be boxed at all and it should just be. Very strong vocals, vulnerable, soulful, honest. Just the way you always loved Kelis. Kudos to her for the amazing album. Get the album here:...
We will be back!
