The Kouga Jazz Group have proved popular among this year's Festival crowd with their neo-traditional African jazz.
The Kouga Jazz Group have proved popular among this year's Festival crowd with their neo-traditional African jazz.
The group was formed in 2004 and consists of Timothy Hutchinson, Kesivan Naidoo, Shannon Mowday, Dave O'Higgins, Mark Fransman, Shaun Johannes (sax), Xolani Faku (trumpet, vocals), Tshepo Monareng (piano), Mano Smith (guitar), Paul Gibbings (bass), Jonno Sweetman (drums) and Daniel Hutchinson (percussion), with Ntlahla Nyiki and Thamsanqa Matebese on vocals.
The group are musicians from the Eastern Cape, presented and supported by the province's Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture.
They have performed at jazz festivals and functions across the Eastern Cape, and received awards for cultural achievement from the Cacadu District Municipality in 2007.
The band has focused on translating Xhosa traditional music into a jazz idiom under Xolani Faku's direction, and a recent milestone was recording these original compositions and arrangements at the Miriam Makeba Audio-Visual Centre in East London.
“Jazz musicians all over the country are bringing in new versions and styles of jazz,” says vocalist Nyiki.
“Jazz is a very important aspect of the Grahamstown arts festival and has been increasingly popular over the years among young and older audiences,” said saxophonist Johannes.
The Kouga jazz group is part of the Eastern Cape Jazz Showcase, the Eastern Cape Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Cultures’ Jazz at Dakawa initiative.
“We have been heavily promoted over the years by our local government and we love it, having a band to represent the community”, said Faku.
The development programme offers a platform for Eastern Cape community jazz groups to be part of the National Arts Festival. The band will perform at Dakawa on Saturday 13 July at 7pm.
