The Concerts SA Music Mobility Fund – a funding mechanism administered by the SAMRO Foundation to support live music touring – is having a hectically active music month in February. With 25 concerts in 23 days showcasing seven bands, touching four SA provinces (Eastern Cape, Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng), and three SADC countries (SA, Botswana and Tanzania), the Mobility Fund activity complements at a national and regional level the broader Concerts SA programme of building local and provincial networks of venues and promoters.
As a curtain-raiser to Valentine’s Day, on Friday 13 February, three Mobility Fund concerts will be staged in three cities simultaneously: in Cape Town (Thandi Ntuli), Gaborone (Bokani Dyer) and Zanzibar (Ihhashi Elimhlophe). Thereafter there will be on average two concerts a day for the subsequent seven days.
Recently nominated for a Metro FM Award in the Urban Jazz category for her album The Offering, UCT graduate Thandi Ntuli and her band will be showcasing the 11 compositions of her debut album in 7 dates across 4 cities.
The Mike Rossi Project will present in Durban the album Trespassing Permitted, with a band that includes Kesivan Naidoo, Dave Ridgway, James McClure, William Haubrich, and Melvin Peters.
SAMRO Overseas Scholarship 2013 winner Bokani Dyer will tour to his native town Gaborone and perform at Botswana Craft with bassist Shane Cooper and drummer Marlon Witbooi. This is the first leg of a regional tour that will head to Mozambique in March.
Maskandi legend Ihhashi Elimhlope will perform with his 13-piece band at the historic Old Fort main stage of Sauti Za Busara Festival in Stone Town, Zanzibar.
“It’s absolutely wonderful when musicians are doing it for themselves. We are thrilled with the astonishing response which the Mobility Fund has received and the diverse range of phenomenal live music featured in the current season. The enthusiastic feedback from both performers and audiences is great. The Mobility Fund concept has enabled performers to travel to a whole range of locations throughout southern Africa – in some instances to obscure or unknown venues which do not regularly enjoy live music events of this caliber. It is a remarkable success and the full diary of live concerts in February is testimony to the willingness of musicians to tour. We are hugely grateful for being able to provide the strategic support required through Concerts SA and the SAMRO Foundation,” says Andre Le Roux, Managing Director: SAMRO Foundation.
Initiated in 2013 by the British Council’s Connect ZA and the SAMRO Foundation, the Music Mobility Fund is a funding mechanism which 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.
Additional information
Concerts SA is a joint South African/Norwegian project housed under the auspices of the Stakeholder Hub within The SAMRO Foundation; it receives financial, administrative and technical support from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, SAMRO and Concerts Norway. By engaging with musicians, promoters, venue owners and audiences, the project aims to stimulate live music in South Africa by finding and implementing ways to create regular, sustainable performance platforms. Concerts SA also aims to develop an interest in and appreciation of live music by showcasing music performances and conducting workshops at schools. For more information 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.
Programme of Concerts February 2015
11 Feb: Youngblood Arts & Culture Development in Cape Town features Thandi Nthuli
11 Feb: Centre for Jazz at UKZN features The Mike Rossi Project
12 Feb: The Chairman (Durban) and Centre for Jazz (UKZN) features The Mike Rossi Project
12 Feb: Straight No Chaser in Cape Town features Thandi Nthuli
13 Feb: The Crypt in Cape Town features Thandi Nthuli
13 Feb: Maitisong Theatre in Gabarone (Botswana) features the Bokani Dyer Trio
13 Feb: Sauti Za Busara Festival (Zanzibar) features Ihhashi Elimhlophe
15 Feb: Stirling High School in East London features Thandi Nthuli
15 Feb: Afrikan Freedom Station features the Peter Auret Trio
18 Feb: Centre for Jazz at UKZN features Thandi Nthuli
19 Feb: The Orbit in Johannesburg features the Bokani Dyer Trio
19 Feb: The Crypt in Cape Town features the Peter Auret Trio
20 Feb: The Orbit in Johannesburg features the Bokani Dyer Trio
20 Feb: Straight No Chaser in Cape Town features the Peter Auret Trio
21 Feb: The Jazzy Rainbow in Durban features Thandi Nthuli
25 Feb: Centre for Jazz at UKZN features the Steve Dyer Quartet
25 Feb: The Orbit in Johannesburg features Thandi Nthuli
26 Feb: The Jazzy Rainbow in Durban features the Peter Auret Trio
27 Feb: Esayidi in Port Shepstone features the Steve Dyer Quartet
27 Feb: The Chairman in Durban features the Peter Auret Trio
28 Feb: Le Aperitivo in uMhlanga features the Steve Dyer Quartet
1 Mar: The Rainbow in Pinetown features the Steve Dyer Quartet
