From Martinique in the Caribbean to Cape Town, South Africa to Tokyo, Japan - Swingers Jazz Jam

We are not just connected by the sea

Last night, initially looking at the few patrons, I thought that it was going to be a quiet night at the jazz jam at Swingers. This was not to be. Guitarist, Alvin Dyers' resident band (Kyle Shephard - keyboards, Denver Furness - drums, Nic Le Roux - saxophone, Alistair Andrews - bass) started of the night as usual with their unique interpretations of some jazz standards and some South African jazz tunes.


Amongst the patrons there were a few jammers including the respectable 'Dr Huxtable'(bassist Spencer Mbadu) and saxophonist Claude Ncgkukana. Later some strangers entered the place. They looked like they just landed at Cape Town International.


"After the stage was suitably warmed up", the jam got very interesting. Besides the usual jammers(Julius May, Clayton September, John Russel, Tino Europa, Jonathan Rubain, Darren English), the jam was joined by jazz vocalist, Heinrich Frans, Daniel Gerard(guitarist from Martinique in the Caribbean) and strangely a harmonica/keyboard player, Tatsuya Nishiwaki from Tokyo, Japan. Some of the tunes they covered included Toots Thielemans' Bluesette, and John Coltrane's Impressions.


Did you ever expect a Caribbean, Japanese, South African jazz collaboration at Swingers. Then again, you never know who is going to turn up. The secret is, attend the jam as often as you can, whenever you can.

Posted in: