Representah: A close up with Joss Stone
So we didn’t get to go to Live Earth and apologies to our readers for not being able to cover it. MAAR! One of our Representah’s Sheena got invited to get close up and persoonlik with a gorgeous Ms Joss Stone at the SABC with about 100 other lucky peeps. She soul’d them down the river: All flaying arms and unbelievably long legs, Joss Stone certainly knows how to put on a concert – albeit one that only about 100 lucky sods had the opportunity to attend. In South Africa for the Live Earth concert this past weekend, Joss allowed her arm to be twisted for an impromptu gathering of die-hards in the underbelly of the SABC on Sunday afternoon. The gig was recorded in a tiny studio for MTV Base and 5FM Live and was cosy and sublime. She was in and out, belting out just five songs that nevertheless rounded off perfectly what every Sunday should have – laid-back, smiley good vibes. Joss started off slowly with ballads from her new album Introducing Joss Stone, and then nearly, almost had the crowd on their feet with Super Duper Love from The Soul Sessions, released in 2004. Tell Me ’Bout It completed the solidly soulful mini-concert. Backed by the recently departed James Brown’s unbelievably funky band, her backing band of choice on tour – the performance was a true treat. Seems the SABC, however, really scraped the bottom of the barrel with the crowd. They missed all her queues for the “woo hoos” normally expected on a live recording and it took much effort from her off-stage team to get people to show their appreciation with their hands. It was slightly embarrassing – but seemed to waft right past her ear-to-ear grin. Barefoot and with her hair Japanese-straight, she happily kicked her heels outside the venue waiting for her team to get the sound set-up just right. But it was clear who the boss was when minutes into the first song her tour manager ran to the front frantically waving his arms for her to stop and start again. Seems the two keyboards tracks were not being recorded. With a flick of her recently purple highlights, the manager was sent meekly into the shadows as Ms Stone made it clear that this Grammy and Brit Award winning artist wasn’t about to stop. The team laid down the missing keyboard tracks after the gig. Wearing a baby-doll top emblazoned with fairies (coupled with THAT short skirt from the Tell Me ’Bout It video) Stone lived up stylishly to the “neo hippie” style she apparently embraces. She told us her new...
Represent! LIVE EARTH – this Sat 07.07.07.
It’s all happening this special day 7 of the 7th of 07 – here’s the final line-up – even Naomi is in the house… We want to know who’s going to Live Earth and who you’re excited to see – please write a comment at the bottom of the post. Joss as a headline with our faves UB40 and Zola, plus superb talent of Angelique Kidjo and Vusi Mahlasela and all the others – it all adds up to be a proudly SA and Africa gig – 24 hours, 2 billion viewers – wow. It gets a big thumbs up. We hope the people… Represent! JOSS STONE, UB40, ANGELIQUE KIDJO, BAABA MAAL, SOWETO GOSPEL CHOIR, DANNY K, THE PARLOTONES,VUSI MAHLASELA & ZOLA LINE UP FOR LIVE EARTH SOUTH AFRICA. R371.00: Retractable Blocks A to J and ZA to ZB raised seating R346.00: Golden Circle Standing, R269.00: Retractable Blocks K to Z raised seating R269.00: Floor Standing, Disabled Platform R191.00: Mezzanine raised seating Tickets Available at www.computicket.com Live Earth SA, now staged at the Coca-Cola Dome, is part of the 24 Hour, 7 Continent Concert Series to Combat Global Warming which begins in Sydney on July 7 2007, and continues across 7 continents with events in Sydney, Tokyo, Shanghai, Johannesburg, London, Hamburg, and Rio de Janeiro, before concluding in New York. The concerts will be broadcast to over 2 Billion people world-wide. The Johannesburg leg of the series will feature British soul, R&B, and blues singer, songwriter, JOSS STONE. Joss has sold over nine million albums worldwide, with her electrifying mix of vintage soul, ’70s-style R&B, Motown harmonies and jazzy grooves, and won numerous awards, including 2 Brits and a Grammy. She also holds the record for the youngest female to top the UK Chart, and the highest debut for a British solo female on the U.S charts. Along with Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin and U2 lead singer Bono, Joss joined Band Aid 20 in 2004, to benefit Darfur, and also performed at 2005’s Live 8 concert in London. Fellow Brits UB40 will also be performing. Their combined single and album sales exceed 70 million, featuring 51 hit singles, and they’ve had No.1 hits in almost every known chart. The group has won the highly prestigious Ivor Novello Award for International Achievement, joined other music greats for a historic performance at LIVE 8, and were nominated for Best Reggae Album at last year’s Grammy Awards. The eight self-taught musicians have combined musical excellence with social conscience in a way that remains unrivalled in this or any other era. Beninese four-time Grammy-nominated, singer, composer, and performer ANGELIQUE KIDJO will be one of...
Represent Review: Omar Pene
How we wish we could have been there to get down with The Matrix as he swung his hips to Senegalese rhythms transfixed by the backing singers agility. Despite his opening sentence, we’re sure he had no problem doing the kwasa-kwasa at Kippies: Change is good they say, but I have to admit, I’m a bit nervous when it comes to dealing with cultural adjustments and their resulting (pre-requisite) behaviour. Well, to sift through the chuff – I plunged head first into unbeknown territory when I marched into Newtown’s legendary Jazz club – Kippies International – to attend the live music show from Senegal’s jazz star: Omar Pene. The atmosphere on 66 Quinn Str (Cnr Carr) was made lively by the opening act: Nathi and the Band performing a remix of the famous “Mangwane Mpulele” with all of us automatically joining in! The mood became emotional as we all listened as one to the poignant title track: Soze- a dedication to his late sister who passed away from an AIDS related illness. Nathi has dedicated the track to all live with HIV/AIDS. (Nathi/Soze, the album is out on sale now!) Apart from the annoying bankcard machines being offline, the ambience was groovy, welcoming and conducive to a good night in Jozi`s cultural heartland – Newtown. Then came the cultural twist as Omar Pene took us on a hip-swinging journey of authentic Senegalese dance floor tunes, even the Matrix lost all control and hit the dance floor Big Time. Kippies had a true multicultural audience on Friday; all paying homage to the singing sensation that is Omar Pene; there were us Darkies (dressed to shame the devil as usual), Whities in their droves (well prinked up too admittedly!) and enthusiasts of all sorts! Omar had us eating out his hands as we got down to the elaborate “Kwasa-Kwasa” dance of North West African origins, shaking it till the end. At one point I found myself multitasking as I gasped, stared and pondered on how horrified the Teasers girls would be if they could witness the things which Mr. Pene`s lead backup singer and beloved daughter could do with (just) her hips (Ka Mmago!!!). Omar Pene came to South Africa to perform at the Durban Film Festival, but owing to the dedication of Africa Synergy and the support of Kaya FM to the continuous development of a cultured Jozi inner City, Kippies international became the proud host of this ingenious and indigenous Senegalese artist. Nothing could have been more befitting and so rewarding! How grateful we are to have such culturally inclined international music supporters such as Africa Synergy, Kippies International and Kaya FM. For loads...
Pink coming to SA!
At last, one of our favourite pop artists Pink is on her way to perform in South Africa – wish she was playing at Live Earth. Sorry Durbanites it’s only Jozi, Sun City and CT for now. It’s going to be a fabulous Spring. We can’t wait. Yay!!! Pink “I’m not Dead Tour” Proudly presented by Sony Ericsson and 5fm in association with MTN, PINK’s first ever SA tour, kicks off at the Sun City Superbowl on the 8th, before heading to the Coca Cola Dome in Joburg on the 9th, and finally the Bellville Velodrome in Cape Town, on the 11th of September 2007. The multi-Grammy Award winning, multi-platinum selling PINK, recently shattered Australian songbird, Kylie Minogue’s home record as the female artist to sell the most concert tickets in an Australian arena tour. She played 36 sell out concerts in Australia/NZ gigs to more than 310,000 fans, breaking 3 building attendance records, and beating Minogue’s previous record of 20 concerts to 215,000 fans during her 2006 Showgirl Homecoming Tour. PINK and her band are set to put on a powerful, hit-packed show with all her signature brash and in-your-face flare, whipped up with her unique blend of soulful funk punk-pop rock and roll! “To have such a distinguished musical influence associated with Sony Ericsson’s music proposition through our Walkman® mobile phone range will further strengthen our commitment and drive on music for us and our partner, MTN”, said Sonja Shear, Head of Marketing for Sony Ericsson, Southern Africa. Shear continued, “Our decision to sponsor Pink’s ‘I’m Not Dead’ Tour, allows us the opportunity to bring the best in music entertainment to South Africa. We will be releasing our rose red W660i handset in addition to our black and orange W880i, and funky pink Z310i clamshell handset exclusively through MTN.” 5FM Station Manager Helen Graham said “Pink is the archetypal 5FM artist – widely popular but with an edge that has kept her interesting longer than many of her contemporaries in the pop genre. We’re very excited to bring her live show to our listeners, who have kept her recorded work in our charts for many years now”. Alastair Roper Sports and Promotions Executive for Sun International, has this to add, ”It’s an honour to welcome PINK to Sun City as she joins the list of Grammy award winning artists that have performed in the world renowned Sun City Superbowl.” PINK has become one of the most enigmatic pop stars around, after gaining prominence in 2000, with her first record, Can’t Take Me Home, which boasted worldwide sales of over 4 million copies. PINK then collaborated with Christina...
Joy of Jazz line up announced
Linda has been jazzing it up all over Jozi, she went to the Joy of Jazz media conference to find out for you, darling Representers, just what we’ll be tapping our feet to this year. PR at end. I admit, I was star-struck when I saw Miriam Makeba – Mama Africa no less – chilling on the couch – as I walked into the launch of the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz last week. I might have even let out an involuntary “oooh” when my favourite musical couple Letta Mbulu and Caiphus Semenya walked in, followed by the legendary Jonas Gwangwa. Here’s the great news! All of the above will be performing at this year’s Standard Bank Joy of Jazz, which is set to take place from 23 to 25 August in Newtown. This year’s line-up sounds absolutely smashing. It consists of Miriam Makeba, Letta Mbulu, Caiphus Semenya, Jonas Gwangwa, as I’ve mentioned, AND George Duke, The Count Basie Orchestra, Dorothy Masuka, another fine Marsalis brother – the trombonist Delfeayo (big brother Branford Marsalis performed at last year’s Joy of Jazz). Pieces of a Dream and Kunle Ayo will also be here. The Moreira Project will be showing their stuff, as well as newcomer and SAMA winner Siphokazi (she was at the launch and I was struck by how tall and graceful she is). Nokukhanya, Sipho Hotstix Mabuse, Ray Phiri and Stimela, Steve Dyer, and Thandie Klaasen will also be holding it down. In addition, there will be workshops for emerging artists and other events at taverns around Jozi. After the official briefing, the artists were requested to stay behind for a “photo opportunity”. I was tickled pink! Had to restrain myself from jumping in between the divas and asking someone to “please shoot me”. In about two months’ time, the spectacular Joy of Jazz will be upon us again, and I can’t wait! THE OFFICIAL PR: The Standard Bank Joy of Jazz Festival has thrown down the gauntlet to all other South African jazzfests in the country by presenting one of the most diverse and powerful line-ups in years. What makes this year so different from previous festivals and other jazzfests in South Africa is that it will feature the first American big band to play here in about 30 years – the world famous Count Basie Orchestra. The Standard Bank Joy of Jazz, which runs in Newtown from August 23 to 25, also pays its own tribute in Women’s Month by bringing together four of the country’s national cultural treasures on one bill – Mama Africa Miriam Makeba, Dorothy Masuka, Thandie Klaasen and Letta Mbulu whose illustrious musical...
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