Simphiwe Dana celebrates two decades of excellence
JOHANNESBURG - The African Queen of Soul, the voice of the ages Simphiwe Dana's debut album Zandisile was released twenty years ago.
Dana celebrates two decades of artistry with a showcase of her work and talents at The Baxter Concert Hall.
Two shows to be held on 27 and 28 June 2025 will explore the multidimensional aspects of her work and growth.
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Arriving on the jazz scene at a seminal moment in its evolution was both a challenge and opportunity for the group of young men who left South Africa for the Antibes Jazz Festival, France in 1964. During the late 1940s, the Be-Bop pioneered by Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and others had revolutionised the jazz idiom. In their small bands, the rhythm section acquired greater significance as Afro-Cuban, Afro-Brazilian and indigenous African percussions were more aggressively integrated into it. Before the American Civil War (1861-65), on the plantations in the non-Catholic states of North America, the drum was absolutely forbidden! Slave owners and their governments considered it an intrinsically subversive musical instrument because its sound could transcend space. Because its sound could break the bounds of distance the drum was capable of nurturing bonds of solidarity amongst the enslaved, the indispensable ingredient of united action. 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Funds accumulated from the exertions of these talents have been used to establish the BLUE NOTES MEMORIAL FUND, administered by the South African College of Music here at UCT. Apart from what they themselves created, Louis has passed the baton on, to generations of future musicians who will benefit from that bursary. As we mourn the loss of a great South African musician, we also celebrate a life of impressive musical achievement. Wherever Louis Tebogo Moholo played his music, he represented South Africa well! He represented the city of his birth, Cape Town, extremely well. We are justly very proud of him. Tsamaya sentle Moholo! Tsamaya sentle motlhankawa waÁfrika!
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