Jazzy Treat at House on Fire
Whoever told these jazz cats to head to the Swazi Kingdom after their gig at the Joy of Jazz was doing them a huge favour, not only will they get blown away by the serenity, beauty and people in the kingdom, but the people of the kingdom get to feast on an unusual jazzy musical treat. Nice one. Sam Mtukudzi, (the gifted son of the legendary Oliver) and his superbly talented friends from New York and Denmark, Max Wild and Soren Moller, are gonna blow the House on Fire down. GO GO GO!!! MAX WILD & SAM MTUKUDZI with special guest Soren Moller at House on Fire, Swaziland 30th August Swazi audiences are set for a thrilling concert on Saturday August 30 featuring powerhouse jazz saxophonist Max Wild from New York in a stunning Afro-beat collaboration with Sam Mtukudzi, son of legendary Zimbabwean performer ‘Tuku’, fast emerging as a major singer-songwriter sensation in his own right. Joining the 8-piece band as special guest is the prodigious Danish jazz pianist Soren Moller, regarded as Denmark’s hottest new jazz talent. The act is being featured at this year’s Standard Bank Joy of Jazz festival in Johannesburg, and immediately after performs exclusively at House on Fire. In April and May this year Max Wild and Sam Mtukudzi launched their new brand of jazz Afro-beat, with overtones of chimurenga music, wowing audiences at the famous Joe’s Pub in New York and then on to HIFA Festival in Zimbabwe. Max and Sam have created a sound that spans continents, a collision of jazz and Afro-beat. In April Max and Sam followed up their single ‘Teerera’ with a full-length album, an ambitious cross-Atlantic collaboration, which teams Max’s New York jazz quintet with Sam Mtukudzi, features Oliver Mtukudzi and showcases compositions by Max, Sam, Oliver, and Nigerian bassist Michael Olatuja, with lyrics in Shona, Ndebele, Yoruba, and English. Max Wild has been turning heads on the Big Apple jazz scene with his distinct sound and Afro-infused jazz compositions. Born in Zimbabwe where he grew up, his musical career took off under the tutelage of British jazz greats Tim Garland and Julian Arguelles. He toured UK and Germany in 2001 performing at Berlin’s prestigious A Trane Jazz Club. In London Max appeared with Guildhall Jazz Orchestra, performing Gil Evans’ Porgy and Bess with Randy Brecker at Barbican Hall and Gil Evans’ Sketches of Spain with Dave Liebman. Since moving to New York in 2002, Max has been part of the Manhattan Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra, directed by acclaimed Latin percussionist Bobby Sanabria, with many performances at New York’s renowned Birdland jazz club. Max has performed twice at Carnegie...
African Dope releases: Moxyland
We love it, an album released to accompany a book. Read all about it, Cape Townians there’s a launch party this weekend at Fiction on the 14th August, see the flyer below. African Dope Publishing proudly presents our debut release – Moxyland the Soundtrack. It’s a 14 track compilation, created as a soundtrack to Lauren Beukes’s cult novel, the futuristic urban thriller Moxyland (Jacana 2008). The compilation is an ill-bient mash with a distinctly Cape Town flavour and a dark, gritty, futuristic edge to reflect the mood of the book, and features artists like The Tone Deaf Junkies, Taxi Violence, The Real Estate Agents, Damn Right, Krushed & Sorted, Mix n Blend, Dank, Mr Gelatine and Jacob Israel. The tracks were compiled and selekta’d by African Dope’s Honeyb and author Lauren Beukes, and mastered by Fletcher @ Krushed & Sorted Studios in Cape Town. All tracks are published by African Dope Publishing (African Dope’s music Publishing company), which publishes songs by a growing number of happening South African composers and artists, and offers music research, clearance and licensing services to the music, film and advertising industries. The CD, which features an exclusive short story by Lauren Beukes and beautiful artwork by Dale Halvorsen is distributed in South Africa by Soul Candi Distribution and is also exclusively available from the African Dope Online Store and selected outlets as a CD-BOOK...
New Music Review: DJ Fresh goes Electro
He’s a legend and we’ve lapped up every single one of his albums… As you may know, our motto this year (and one of our goals since we debuted) is to encourage a ColourlessSociety in South Africa, where we remove ourselves from the ridiculous skin boxes (never mind music, lifestyle blah blah), most cast upon us, some self-imposed, but many that continue to be self-perpetuating and maddeningly limiting… We believe Fresh is one of the pioneers of the break free mentality and how we would describe a leader of the ColourlessSociety that we strive for. Dawn Penny sniffs out his foray into Electro… NICE ONE. Break ’em down… Represent! 7 beats out 10 We’ve all been there with him, from Fresh House Flava to Fresh House Classics to Definition of House, and now DJ Fresh goes a little experimental with his house. Fresh goes Electro is the first in the new Fresh series, “DJ Fresh goes…”. I will admit up until listening to this CD, I have not been a huge fan of electro house. I mean I could listen to a song or two while on the dance floor but I’ve never sat down and given it a listen. And I will say that as many times as Fresh has not missed with his previous offerings, he hit the nail right on the head with this one. He starts the CD out easing you in to the electro beats (so as to not shock his fans too much early on?), which I appreciated cos I was still trying to get over the sound coming out of the speakers. As the CD carries on he gets a lot harder on the electro beats, like very hard, to the point where you feel like you’re in a trance. But then just as you think he can’t get any harder, he softens things up towards the end, which restores you to the CD and wakes you from your zombie state. What’s also really cool about this album is that Fresh mixes all those classics like Sing it Back by Chic Flowers and Kirsty Hawkshaw vs Kinky Roland with Fine Day – among others – that had us on the dance floor at house parties. My favourite tracks – which might be hits – were track number 3, 7, 9, 12, 13 and 15. The rest I felt were a little heavy for my ears. If you’re a DJ Fresh fan you will love this but if you’re strictly a house fan, the house that we know Fresh for, this might be a little hard for you to swallow. But I was...
Represent Review: RnB Women’s Day Concert
At heart, we all know he’s a serious ladies man. Represent’s one and only Reuben “The Matrix” Malema finds a new sidekick and surrounds himself with the wonders of women as he at the Women’s day RnB bash at the Bassline in Johannesburg… See our Flickr photoset here. Sharpile as always Reuben : 21H00 on Friday: 08 August 2008 at Bassline – Newtown, Johannesburg. A fairly cool night for a typical late winter, early spring day in the city of gold. Mr. Nkateko Siweya (My cameraman and the newest member of Matrix Incorporated) joins me on a colourful journey of discovery to celebrate and honor man’s better half: Abafazi. Funny though, that on this journey so full of affection, comfort and lots of happy emotions, Ms. Janica Nhlapo had to purposefully go AWOL on me. Oops, I forgot: she’s enjoying all that is beautiful about being a woman: the early and tender days of her new born baby boy. And yes, Congratulations to her and all the other strong and mild willed women out there who are jealously guarding the fort and by some miraculous wonder when life pits them against all odds, still manage to constantly hoist the torch of humanity ever so high. To this end, yours truly unreservedly salutes you. The venue of the Newtown (Jozi) Celebrates: Women in Arts – R&B concert was warm and very homely. The guest lounge had been decorated with red silk dressing, a scatter of chocolate nibbles and matching white candles. Fresh, crisply clear juice in flute glasses was served together with a helping of bite-size chicken skewers, roast leg of lamb portions, fish cakes, beef burgers, an assortment of mouth-watering sausages and tantalizing sauce-dipped meatballs on “Sterk-Blatjang”. At 21H30 the build-up process was well underway with DJ Franso rearing in a collection of very good house and smooth tunes. A brigade of well adorned ladies started streaming in by the bus loads! The fact was clearly evident that this one was selfishly for the ladies. Ms. Lulu took to the stage to get the live performances off to a very beautiful start; her romantic ballads coupled with her sweet melody were a reminiscent of Mama Letta Mbuli`s “I need you baby”. When the mellow ballads had warmed up the hall; the energetic Busie set the dance floor alight with her paced up performance of popular and very circular jingles; with the naughty (see pictures) Chomie infusing all sorts of excitement upon the outnumbered male part of the audience, while they all sang along to her famous track: Jaiva Sexy! Edgars Consolidated Stores was kind enough to the ladies to...
Hello Lionel, is it me you’re looking for ???
Everyone has their soft spot. For some, it’s chocolate, for others, it’s Madonna (what???). For us, it’s Lionel. Anyone that’s a friend of Editorista will know how she and certain friends get all soppy and soft when the legendary Lionel’s voice comes on the radio, although it’s usually being played off an ipod or cd as being such fans, they have the entire collection. So she just wanted to remind you of how you MUST MUST MUST go to his concert when Lionel graces our shores in November… SCREAM…… Do it to me one more time! BIG Concerts are thrilled to announce that one of the most prolific hitmakers, Lionel Richie will tour South Africa in November this year. The highly anticipated tour, presented by 94.7 Highveld Stereo, will play ABSA Stadium in Durban on the 25th of November, and 28th November the Coca Cola Dome, Johannesburg. Lionel Richie has set aside the 22nd November 2008 to perform in Cape Town, the details of which will be released in due course. “Lionel Richie is a popular music artist featured on 94.7 Highveld Stereo’s playlist. His song, ‘I Call It Love’ has proved particularly popular among our listeners, as have a number of other hits he has produced over the years,” said 94.7 Station Manager Ravi Naidoo. “The fact that he’s coming to South Africa to perform is truly amazing and we’re honoured to be a partner to this tour.” “Simplicity,” Lionel Richie explains, “is the key to what I do.” These are surprising, even shocking, words from an artist whose achievements, creatively and commercially… have been anything but simple. Lionel Richie is, after all, one of the world’s most recognized and rewarded performers. He’s sold nearly 100 million albums and is the biggest selling RnB artists in South Africa with over 1 million records sold, notching up twenty-two Top 10 singles, including legendary hits such All Night Long, Dancin’ on the Ceiling, Hello and the Commodores’ Brickhouse, Easy, and Zoom. Among the many awards that grace his shelves, the collection includes five Grammy Awards, an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and not to mention piles of American Music and People’s Choice awards. “I want to find the simplest phrase that everybody says, no matter what language you speak.” Richie’s perspective is a product of nearly four decades of making music, since he co-founded the Commodores in 1967 at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. Signed in 1971 to Motown, The Commodores became one of America’s most popular bands by the mid-’70s. Richie began stepping outside the Commodores after producing Kenny Roger’s album “Share Your Love” in 1981, which spawned the hit “Lady”....
Proudly brought to you by:
