Star line-up for free Cape jazz concert
GREENMARKET Square will once again come alive to the sounds of the Cape Town International Jazz Festival (CTIJF) when the free concert welcomes music lovers, families and revellers to the city.
From 5pm on Wednesday, March 29, Greenmarket Square will become a concert venue as Cape Town welcomes the US’s En Vogue, South African afropop pioneers Mango Groove and Sama-winning reedman Moreira Chonguiça along with espYoungLegends winner VuDu, Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers Union (Sactwu) talent winner Danielle Jacobs and the CTIJF Sustainable Training and Development All Star Band.
Headline performers will be RnB group En Vogue, who will transport fans back to the 1990s with their soulful, up-tempo hits, and give them a taste of what the “real funky divas” have been working on with their upcoming album Electric Café.
Fan-favourites Mango Groove will get the audience moving to their infectious groove, classic hits and on-stage presence.
The adventurous musical identity of Matola-born Chonguiça will captivate Cape Town. Playing many styles from Mozambique, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and the Congo in a mixture of genres, Chonguiça lets his ancestors talk through him to connect with everyone.
“Because the CTIJF is firmly rooted in sustaining the future of the music industry in South Africa, and promoting the arts and culture movement, we have included the brilliantly talented VuDu, winner of the second annual espYoungLegends competition, in the line-up for this year’s Free Community Concert, as well as a young band and a fledgling solo performer, all of whom will entertain and give us a glimpse as to what audiences can expect in the future of South African music,” said festival director Billy Domingo.
VuDu, the nu-jazz collective from Port Elizabeth, was formed to play straight-ahead jazz standards but has evolved into an outfit specialising in the fusion of traditional and African jazz with urban contemporary genres.
Jacobs, the winner of Sactwu’s annual talent competition, will perform in a first live concert, along with a select group of young performers from the CTIJF Sustainable Training and Development Music and Career workshops, dubbed the All Star Band.
Sponsors of the 18th Cape Town International Jazz Festival Free Community Concert include: the Department of Arts and Culture, Independent Media, National Lottery, South Atlantic Arts and Culture Trust, City of Cape Town, Coca-Cola, Cape Town Central Improvement District. – Staff Writer