Joy of Jazz, sponsored by Standard Bank takes place in Johannesburg, Africa’s greatest city; a bold and pulsating metropolis. The people work hard and play hard, they immerse themselves in the finest music at the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz.
Featuring 90% JAZZ and 10% sub-genre of jazz.
You can hear Straight Ahead Jazz, the various African Jazz sounds – Kwela and Marabi, avant-garde jazz, R & B, Acid Jazz, World Music and everything in between and around.
For 18 years the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz Festival has been at the apex of international jazz entertainment on the Mother Continent.
As the most prestigious arena for live, musical excellence and a landmark occasion for musicians to display their performance skills, Joy of Jazz has hosted most of the world’s exceptionally gifted jazz practitioners – from swing and bebop grandmasters to the hottest prospects of Afro-jazz and avant-garde.
Some of sensational saxophonists (Branford Marsalis and Ravi Coltrane) and prolific pianists such as Abdullah Ibrahim, Keiko Matsui and Ramsey Lewis, fusion’s greatest guitarists (Lee Ritenour, Earl Klugh and Jonathan Butler), have enthralled audiences with their remarkable virtuosity.
The diversity of the festival’s line-up has seen its stages being graced by some of the biggest names in secular music – from the sultriest sirens of soul to the continent’s World Music superstars.
Joy of Jazz has not only acted as a draw-card for some of the illustrious names in the jazz iconography, it has also become a magnet and nursery for rising stars whose experiences in front of big crowds have given them the confidence to aspire for lofty achievements.
In this regard the festival provides youth development projects such as music workshops and the Standard Bank National Youth Jazz Band, the most significant development youth initiative in jazz in South Africa.
Charitable initiatives such as Jazz Cares are proof of the festival’s human face and compassionate nature while a forum such as the Breakfast Colloquium is a poignant expression of the festival’s intellectual content and discourse on cutting edge themes such as jazz’s cultural significance on the country’s musical landscape.
Joy of Jazz is now on at The Sandton Convention Centre and ends on Saturday 17th September.
More info here
