Burton Naidoo to rock at Durban’s Jazz Jol
DURBAN’S annual Jazz Jol is commemorating its 30th year, and will boast a line-up of some of the city’s finest musos in the genre.
This year, the Jazz Jol features composer/pianists Burton Naidoo and Sibusiso “Mash” Mashiloane and the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) Big Band.
Naidoo, award-winning pianist, arranger and composer, will lead the UKZN Big Band and perform his compositional success, Our Song, which creates a backdrop for iconic speeches of former president Nelson Mandela and other South African political leaders.
He said the journey towards Our Song began in 2006.
“I had just won the Samro (SA Music Rights Organisation) Piano Competition and was a bit bored with my sound and concept. I started to become aware of the melody in my speech; it was almost as if every time that I spoke I heard a mini melody. This started to intrigue me.”
He said at the time American pianist Jason Moran had transcribed a telephone conversation and recorded that conversation with the piano.
“It was almost as if I had my answer as to what I needed to do. The transcriptions have been an ongoing process from 2006 until the present. It made the most amount of sense to transcribe the speeches of Mr Nelson Mandela, given what he has done for us all,” said Naidoo.
Written for solo piano and track, the audience can expect speeches from the Rivonia Trial, praise-singing from Sthembile Mlangeni and Zolani Mkhiva at the inauguration, as well as FW De Klerk’s announcement to Parliament in 1990 that Mandela would be freed.
Naidoo’s father, Ronnie Naidoo, was a musician, a drummer, and this is where his love for music began.
“I used to go with him to rehearsals at least once a week. I was mesmerised by the skill of the musicians in the band as well as intrigued by how the music just came together. I started taking piano lessons at the age of 6 and stopped when I was 17. The interesting thing is that, although I loved playing music, I never considered becoming a professional musician until I was 21. That’s when I enrolled at university. My first choice was theology and philosophy. I suppose it was destiny.”
Asked about his love of jazz specifically, Naidoo said: “I think that it’s the (jazz) artists who play the music that keeps the genre alive. Jazz musicians are brave and highly creative individuals. We have a tendency to absorb what’s happening around us and effectively communicate these ideals through the music.
“People admire that, they are intrigued by that. I believe that is why, for the most part, it is becoming increasingly difficult to define jazz. It’s one part of a huge whole.”
Naidoo has a number of projects on the go, including one with legendary vocalist Shunna Pillay.
“We are currently working on a project titled Midnight. We collaborated five years ago and have forged a healthy rapport. So that’s something to look forward to. I’m also planning on recording some of my earlier works, namely The
Confession Suite and Sanctum, which will be done once Our Song is released, hopefully early next year.”
The Jazz Jol takes place at UKZN’s Centre for Jazz and Popular Music, on Saturday, October 27, from 7pm.
Mashiloane will perform with Menzi Cele and Zoe The Seed on vocals, Boyi Mokhatla on drums and Qhubekani Mthethwa on bass guitar.
The UKZN Big Band, led by Burton Naidoo, will perform some old Big Band favourites including Have you Met Miss
Jones, Take the ‘A’ Train, and I’ve got You Under My Skin.
New arrangements from John Kordalewski, as well as arrangements by students Micale Leon, Phuti Mofakeng, Kgethi Nkotsi and Sinalo Zulu will be featured.
And just to get everyone into the festive spirit, the Big Band will perform two Christmas carols.
As a warm-up and precursor to the annual Jazz Jol, the UKZN Jazz Ensemble will perform on October 17 and 24 at the Centre for Jazz and Popular Music, UKZN, starting at 6pm.