Aspiring young jazz musicians are in for a real treat again at this year’s annual Standard Bank National Youth Jazz Festival, taking place at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown. The Jazz Festival starts on 27 June and ends 3 July.
Focusing on educating young jazz musicians, the Festival invites youths between the ages of 13 and 26 to come together and improve their jazz knowledge and skills through interaction with their peers and some of the top professional jazz performers and educators in the country. The festival is demanding, with up to 16 hours a day of workshops, lectures, band practices, improvisation workshops and jam sessions with high profile performers. Lecturers on board this year’s Festival include the cream of South Africa’s jazz scene, such as saxophonists Barney Rachabane, Kevin Davidson and Mike Rossi, trumpeter Bruce Cassidy, trombonist John Davies, drummer Lulu Gontsana and bassist Carlo Mombelli, to name a few. Also joining the SBNYJF as guest lecturers will be the internationally-acclaimed Chris Collins Quartet from Detroit, USA.
The young musicians on the course will also have the opportunity to audition for three national bands – The National Youth Big Band (age limit 26), the National Schools’ Big Band (age limit 18) and the National Youth Jazz Band (a small combo of the very best players 26 and under). Selection for one of these bands could mean touring nationally and internationally.
The Standard Bank National Youth Jazz Festival is a celebration of South African jazz, with predominant focus on original composition and the promotion of South African musicians, young and older. For more information, kindly email SBNYJF Director Alan Webster on [email protected] .
ENDS. For more information or to schedule an interview, kindly contact Michelle Kearney at Lakwela Communications on Tel : (021) 465 7045 or Cell : 083 661 4117
For more information contact All About Jazz.
