France’s Sax Machine to blow festival fans away
FRENCH band Sax Machine will be one of the headline acts at the eighth edition of the popular Alliance Française Street Music Festival taking place tomorrow in Richmond Hill.
The three-piece band was formed nearly five years ago by saxophonist and beatmaker Guillaume Sené and trombonist Pierre Dandin.
The two friends were then joined by emcee, poet and keyboardist DAVU, who was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Sené said: “We invited him [DAVU] for a long jam session at home first before touring together.
“Our sound is a blend of hip hop, jazz and funk.”
This will be Sax Machine’s first visit to Port Elizabeth, after having performed at the Zafika Music Festival in Durban last weekend.
Dandin said: “We are very excited being in South Africa.
“I would like to discover Port Elizabeth, taste your local food, meet some local artists and go visit the game reserves around here and enjoy the sea sports.
“I wish we could stay longer, but as we are on tour, we won’t stay that long.”
Sené said the band would be performing songs from their first album Speed of Life, as well as their second offering, Bubbling, which they released earlier this year.
“We love improvising during our shows, so we could play some album tracks or improvise new live tracks,” Sené said.
“Each concert is different, a new experience.”
The Alliance Française Street Music Festival is based on the Fête de la Musique which originated in France in 1982 and is celebrated in cities throughout France and the world.
There will be three stages this year at the Richmond Hill festival, with more than 30 local bands performing.
The Main Stage in Mackay Street will host the big bands, the Grand Stage at the bottom of Stanley Street will deliver house music, and the Coca Cola stage in Bain Street will showcase hip hop and acoustic bands.
For all rugby-mad fans who don’t want to miss out on the festival or South Africa playing France the match will be shown on a large screen.
Entrance to the festival is R30 per person and free for children under 12 years of age.
The festival will run from 10am to 10pm.