The National Jazz Festival Makhanda will once again unite jazz musicians from across the country and the world at SA’s definitive jazz gathering, live at the National Arts Festival. Jazz has always been an essential part of the National Arts Festival and promises to be a big drawcard for audiences who have missed the live experience of jazz. The lockdown years have been particularly hard on musicians who always rely heavily on concerts and gigs, often at festivals, for their livelihoods.
The Jazz Festival also includes an essential programme that is key to the development of professional jazz musicians in South Africa. The National Youth Jazz Festival brings together talented, young musicians from across South Africa and through the programme, some 300 plus young musicians from schools, universities and informal institutions around the country are able to meet and connect with successful and diverse jazz musicians. These young musicians also audition for the National Youth Jazz Band - a springboard that has helped shape the careers of artists like Kesivan Naidoo, Siya Makuzeni, Tutu Puoane and Kyle Shepherd. Many of these musicians in turn mentor younger musicians and so the circle continues.
National Jazz Festival Makhanda curator Alan Webster points out that the programme has a strong line-up of younger jazz artists and, although the headlines are filled with young South African jazz artists, excellent musicians from Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Romania, Britain and Spain will be collaborating with them for this very special celebration of jazz.
To find out more go to: https://nationalartsfestival.co.za/
