Jazz virtuosos a heavenly match
Talented pair, accomplished musicians put on superb performance
FOR AS long as they can remember, jazz virtuosos Zenzi Makeba Lee and Amanda Tiffin have been speaking of performing together.
It does sound like a match made in heaven and seeing it happen on Saturday afternoon in Grahamstown, one wondered why it didn’t happen sooner.
They both have considerable credentials under their belt.
Zenzi is the granddaughter of Miriam Makeba. Instead of falling under her shadow or escaping Mama Africa’s fame she has made a name for herself as the backing vocalist for her legendary grandmother, Bra Hugh and Dizzy Gillespie and co-wrote songs for Makeba’s album Homeland.
She also has several prestigious awards to her name and works as a composer/vocalist.
Tiffin is not only head of jazz singing, but acting head of jazz studies at UCT and works all over the world.
Her credits include performing with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; she can regularly be heard as vocalist pianist in Japan and is an arranger and composer.
The two have diverse voices both sweet as honey and the warm and responsive audience took to them and the excellent group of musicians who performed alongside them like ducks to water.
Repeating history from last year’s jazz festival, pianist Africa Mkhize accompanied Makeba Lee and Tiffin along with Romy Brauteseth on bass, and Marlon Witbooi and Tlale Makhene on drums.
For those not in the know, Mkhize is the son of another jazz great Themba Mkhize and has also taken inspiration from his father’s great legacy.
The audience was taken on a wonderful journey of favourites from both singers and treated to some really spectacular solo playing from the musicians.
Makeba Lee treated the appreciative audience to Ngoma Nkurila – a Shangaan and VhaVenda song composed by her late mother, Bongi Makeba.
The stage also belonged to the players: Brauteseth made her cello sound like a trombone and, much to the audience’s delight, Witbooi could be seen relishing every moment of his time on his drums, eliciting extraordinary sounds from them.
Makeba Lee closed with a rousing Aluta Continua for which a group of school learners joined them on stage to sing, their voices harmonising in unison to this liberation song.
It was an outstanding 55-minute concert.