Artists to enthrall in series
World-acclaimed musicians will perform live in EL until December 26
If your soul thirsts for hearty live performed music, then thirst no more.
For the next few weeks, music lovers are in for a treat, with back-to-back live performances by world-acclaimed and local artists.
The series of live performance music, which starts this Saturday and runs until December 26, was made possible by none other than East London-born songstress, Msaki.
To start off the series is the Zulu Guitarist himself, Madala Kunene, who will be performing at the Velvet Lounge at the East London harbour on Saturday evening.
Kunene’s sound is often likened to mbanqanga or maskandi, but he begs to differ on this, and has dubbed his sound as the “Madaline”.
Speaking at the Miriam Makeba Art Centre, where he conducted a music workshop for the music students at the University of Fort Hare, he said he grew up listening to international jazz musicians, and that is where some of his sounds came from.
“Growing up, I listened to a lot of international jazz artists and that is where I picked up some of the sounds and merged them with my own sound,” he said.
The name Zulu Guitarist was given to him by his fans from abroad because of the unique sound that comes from his guitar with every stroke.
At the workshop, Kunene spoke about core issues that affect the music industry today, such as musicians struggling to make ends meet, the importance of education and the lack of love for each other in the industry.
“When you are a musician, there will come a time when you will no longer be able to make music, and that is why you need to be educated to have something to fall back on, should you stop making music,” he said.
The group of music students, including the head of the music department, Nduduzo Makhathini, was given an opportunity to interact with Kunene, and was treated to live performances of some of his powerful blues.
Speaking about Saturday’s event, Kunene said the evidence could expect the unexpected.
“A sound that is unique and music that they have never heard before,” he said.
Speaking to the Dispatch, Msaki said a variety of artists, such as Itai Hakim, a folk soul Tsonga and Venda singing guitarist, Umle Sound from Port Elizabeth, Isandla Semfene, Dumza Maswana and Makhathini are some of the artists who are expected to perform in the series.
“In East London we are lucky to treated to a lot of live music, but mostly those performances are from mega-festivals where there are 20 acts in one day, and that kind of kills concert culture. We need that concert culture where people can just kick back and relax and listen to a set of an artist and this series is aimed at creating that space,” she said.
The event will start at 7.30pm at Velvet Lounge where R100 will get you in. Kids enter for free.