Earlier today I had a pleasure and opportunity to sit in the press conference where some of the musicians and artists billed for the 13th Cape Town International Jazz Festival sat and answered questions from different types of media. Below are a few of them and some of the things they talked about. First artist on the panel was The Trio, a collective of drummer Lenny White and saxophonist Donald Harrison, supporting renowned bass player Ron Carter.... 

Cape Town‘s Green Market Square was the place to be on Wednesday evening when few of the artists billed for the 2012 edition of the Cape Town International Jazz Festival treated the city’s community and its visitors to a music extravaganza. I couldn’t see the artists that performed earlier, from the moment the free concert started at 5pm. However, while running some errands on Long Street, I could hear the music and festivities going... 

For a long time now I have prided myself in being a fan of, and immensely enjoying, the music of both Sade and Maxwell. One day, as I read about each musician and artist’s life, I couldn’t help but notice that they share a bevy of similarities. Whether in their personal life or their music career. Maxwell earlier in his career. Adu shows off her freckles. Admiring the qualities in both the aspects, I decided to write something... 

Just over a week ago, many South Africans expressed their disappointment resulting from the cancellation of Jill Scott as one of the headliners at the 2012 edition of the Cape Town International Jazz Festival. When the organisors issued a formal statement and indicated that they would be looking for a replacement for Jill Scott, many, including myself, hoped and prayed that a fitting musician is billed. Lauryn Hill to perform at Cape Town International... 

Sedibeng, in Dobsonville, came alight on Friday night when the hip hop fraternity and Soweto came out in numbers to support PRO(kid) as he launched his fifth studio album, entitled Continua. PRO couldn’t have chose a more apt location to celebrate such a milestone in his career. He is a self-confessed Soweto boy after all. I hadn’t planned on attending the event until Hardy McQueen, the man who put it all together, extended an invite... 

KwaZulu-Natal‘s biggest rock festival, Splashy Fen, is happening in less than three weeks. Rockers and their fans from different parts of the country (andworld) will descend upon the majestic Drakensberg for the music and entertainment extravaganza takeing place between April 5 and April 9. Madala Kunene will brace the stage at Splashy Fen. Reading the below release after receiving it, Madala Kunene‘s name grabbed my attention. I went... 

Durban rapper Zakwe caused quite a stir last week after he garnered a total of five nominations for this year’s South African Music Awards. Although he is not leading the pack, an honour is held by Zahara with nine nominations, it made an immense impact because Zakwe literally came out of nowhere. Zakwe‘s nominations include three of the Top 5 categories. These are Album Of The Year, Male Artist Of The Year, as well as Newcomer Of The... 

A few weeks ago I was beside myself with excitement after an announcement was made that Jill Scott was one of the international musicians to perform at the 2012 edition of Cape Town International Jazz Festival. That delight was unfrotunately short-lived. The Philadelphia-born neo-soul singer announced on Twitter last Saturday that she is no longer coming to the country. The disappointment and sadness from such news is umeasurable. Not just for me,... 

Swaziland‘s biggest music festival, MTN Bushfire, has always had an interesting array of artists on its line up. And with each year I’ve always wanted to attend but, for some reason, something always crops up to veer me away from my plans. Although I liked the previous set of artists announced for the festival to take place at Malkerns Valley in May, especially Adam Glasser’s Mzansi project, featuring vocalist Pinise Saul and guitarist... 

Do you remember what I wrote on the last write up I published about this year’s line-up at the Cape Town International Jazz Festival? If you don’t remember or didn’t read, I mentioned that the artists featured on Africa’s Grandest Gathering this year just didn’t jump at me like the previous years. Guess what? News have just come in that none other than Philly‘s Queen of neo-soul, Jill Scott, and rap legend Pharoahe...