Opening doors to a musical world
ASPIRING young artists from Mozambique will tomorrow take part in a master class from self-taught multi-instrumentalist Camillo Lombard.
The highly-skilled jazz pianist, co-founder and principal of the Cape Music Institute departed for the southern African country where he is set to perform at a concert at the Uptown Café in Maputo on Thursday.
Speaking before departing, Lombard said Cape Town and Mozambique had a deep connection that stretched back to the days of slavery in the Mother City.
“When the colonists settled in Cape Town, slaves from Mozambique were the first to be brought to the Cape and their culture has been deeply embedded in ours. I will be sharing with these young artists a bit of Afrifusion influences, teaching them about performance, the business side of the music industry and using technology,” he said.
Lombard said he looked forward to imparting his knowledge to young artists, as well as finding out more of the country’s emerging talent.
The Kuilsriver-based composer and educator has worked with artists extensively from Mozambique, as in the likes of Jimmy Dludlu, Frank Paco, Moreira Chonguiça, John Hassan, Jaco Maria and Xixel Langa. Hit albums he has produced include Dludlu’s Corners of My Soul, Langa’s Inside Me and Chonguiça’s The Human Factor.
A facilitator of training and development workshops for the High Schools Arts Festival and master classes for the Cape Town International Jazz Festival, Lombard has also been a mentor for the Artscape Youth Jazz Festival annually.
He also serves as musical director of Artscape Rural Outreach program.
He said the concert came from Uptown Café promoter Zé Pires and that audiences could expect to get a Cape Town feel through the performances.
“There is a huge demand for Afrifusion music and jazz from across the continent, and the interest is just growing,” he said.
Lombard performs on Sunday nights at Lounge 021 at Swingers in Wetton with his students, guitarist Tich Jean Pear and drummer Denver Fernes.
‘A huge demand for Afrifusion music and jazz from across the continent’