South African music is on the move this season. Thanks to the Concerts SA Music Mobility Fund, administered by the SAMRO Foundation, dozens of musicians are receiving extra support for their touring projects, reaching and developing new audiences for live music in South Africa and neighbouring SADC countries. 2014 ended with tours by Frank Paco’s Art Ensemble in Mozambique, Tumi Mogorosi’s Project Elo in Botswana, and Luna Paige, Josie Field and Laurie Levine throughout South Africa, and 2015 starts with national album launch tours by Madala Kunene and Benjamin Jephta. This Mobility Fund is aligned to other activities by Concerts SA to strengthen live music touring circuits in South Africa and the region.
Madala Kunene – known as the King of the Zulu guitar, Madala will be performing material from his forthcoming album. This new release highlights the story of Madala’s family evictions at Umkhumbane in 1959, how he later met and made friends with the man who evicted his family. The album includes collaborations with Hugh Masekela, Steve Newman and Guy Buttery. Following this theme of forgiveness and reconciliation, Madala will visit District 6 in Cape Town, where he will collaborate with Vivienne Simchovitz (fondly referred to as the Queen of Flute) and will perform at three different venues in Cape Town. From the Cape, Madala will move on to Johannesburg, visit Sophiatown and collaborate with Thabo Lepere and Mabi Thobejane in two days of performances at the Afrikan Freedom Station.
Benjamin Jephta -a semi-finalist in the prestigious SAMRO Overseas Scholarships Competition 2012, has already become one of the premier double and electric bass players in South Africa at age 22. His album “Homecoming” marks his debut offering as a solo artist. Benajmin says: “I want to give the listener a musical biography of my life by using the harmonies and melodies associated with my upbringing. As an artist, I believe one should create music that is significant to you. I have always been captivated by this kind of honesty in the musicians I look up to. It is exactly what I’m hoping to achieve with this album: to move and uplift the spirit. To welcome you, the listener, to my musical home.”
Benjamin will be presenting “Homecoming” in Cape Town and Joburg with a virtuoso band comprised of Kyle Shepherd (piano), Sphelelo Mazibuko (drums), Marcus Wyatt (trumpet) and Sisonke Xonti (sax). “The musicians on this album are all artists in their own right! They interpreted the music in a way I could never have imagined and brought the compositions to life. I’m really looking forward to playing with this band again, as a lot of the music has already evolved since we recorded this album,” Benjamin says.
Madala Kunene Dates
Date: Friday 16 January
Venue: Bazinga Bar
Address: 9 Green Street, Cape Town
Time: 8pm
Tickets: R 100
Bookings: Quicket Online, Bazinga Bar, Slow Life Café, Lucky Fish Store
Date: Saturday 17 January
Venue: Slow Life Cafe
Address: 152, Main Road, Muizenberg
Time: 8pm
Tickets: R 100
Bookings: Quicket Online, Bazinga Bar, Slow Life Café, Lucky Fish Store
Date: Sunday 18 January
Venue: Bay Harbour Market
Address: 31 Harbour Road, Hout Bay
Time: 3pm
Tickets: R 100
Bookings: Quicket.co.za, Bazinga Bar, Slow Life Café, Lucky Fish Store
Dates: Friday 23 and Saturday 24 January
Venue: Afrikan Freedom Station
Address: 41 5th Avenue, Westdene, Johannesburg
Time: 8pm
Tickets: R 80
Bookings: 073 852 5149
Benjamin Jephta Dates
Date: Friday 16 January
Venue: SA College of Music, UCT
Address: Lower Campus (behind the Baxter Theatre), off Woolsack Drive, Rondebosch, Cape Town
Time: 8.30pm
Tickets: R 90 / 110
Bookings: Quicket.co.za, 083 700 0581
Date: Saturday 17 January
Venue: Straight No Chaser
Address: 79, Buitenkant Street, Cape Town
Time: 8.30pm
Tickets: tbc
Bookings: 076 6792697
Date: Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 February
Venue: The Orbit
Address: 81, De Korte Street, Johannesburg
Time: 8.30pm
Tickets: tbc
Bookings: 011 339 6645
About the Concerts SA Music Mobility Fund
Initiated in 2013 by the British Council’s Connect ZA and the SAMRO Foundation, this funding mechanism offers opportunities for South African musicians to undertake live music-related activities. A total of 16 applications were successful in the 2014 round and are being supported in South Africa (10 projects) and in the SADC region (6 projects), including countries such as Botswana, Swaziland, Tanzania and Mozambique.
Funded by Concerts SA and Connect ZA, the Mobility Fund is administered by Concerts SA at The SAMRO Foundation. Concerts SA is a joint South African/Norwegian project housed under the auspices of the Stakeholder Hub within the SAMRO Foundation. Concerts SA also receives technical support from Concerts Norway. The project aims to stimulate live music in South Africa by finding and implementing ways to create regular, sustainable performance platforms. It also aims to develop an interest in and appreciation of live music by showcasing music performances and conducting workshops at schools.
For more information about Concerts SA and details on the Mobility Fund performances, please visit our website http://concertssa.co.za, follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ConcertsSA or like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ConcertsSA.
