Happy New Year, Peace, Love & Respect

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Kyle Shepherd releases Debut Album!

Here in Cape Town we have "Eerste Nuwe Jaar", "Tweede Nuwe Jaar" and now get ready for "Derde Nuwe Jaar"

Kyle Shepherd, one of South Africa’s foremost young jazz pianists, will release his much anticipated Debut Album entitled "fineART" at a concert to be held at 7:30pm on Saturday, 03 January 2009, at the SABC Auditorium, Beach road, Sea Point, Cape Town.

"fineART" which features Shepherd on piano, alto sax, vocals & percussion, Buddy Wells (tenor sax), Claude Cozens (drums) and Dylan Tabisher (double bass), consists of 11 tracks, all of which are Shepherd’s compositions with the exception of a Cape Traditional song, “Die maan skyn so helder”.

Explaining the title of the Album, Shepherd says: “My concept is summed up in this poem
of mine:
fineART is the soil in which the seed of creativity manifests itself
this is music from home
why wouldn't it be?
why shouldn't it be?"

Shepherd goes on to say: “My music is a direct representation of my traditions and the lineage of artists that came before me, and I am merely a portrait of their mastery.”

In his Foreword to the Album, internationally acclaimed South African music legend, Zim Ngqawana had the following to say about Shepherd's music:
"Authenticity is another word for originality and this is clearly evident in Kyle’s compositions, arrangements and improvisation. He has managed to find a balance between the intellect and intuition. Kyle is a meditator and a poet."

Whilst only 21 of age, Shepherd’s achievements already include performances with the likes of Errol Dyers, Robbie Jansen, Louis Moholo, Mccoy Mrubata and Zim Ngqawana.

In 2005, Shepherd won the FMR/Pick ‘n Pay Travel Award. As part of the 2008 Cape Town International Jazz Festival Programme, Shepherd’s Quartet performed his original compositions in a virtual “Jazz Conversation” with students from the Juilliard Institute for Jazz Studies in New York.

While the Album does reflect a more modern approach to improvised music, Shepherd’s compositions remain unashamedly rooted in his cultural music traditions by drawing on the unique rhythms, harmonies & melodic devices that are so unique to home, Cape Town, South Africa.

The Album Launch Concert features Shepherd’s fineART Quartet with Buddy Wells (sax), Shane Cooper (double bass) and Claude Cozens (drums).
Concert Details:
Date: 7:30 pm, Saturday, 03 January 2009
Venue: SABC Auditorium, Beach Road, Sea Point, Cape Town
Tickets: R50 at the door or call 072 351 5204 or Email: info@kyleshepherd.co.za

http://www.kyleshepherd.co.za

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Aardvark Jazz Orchestra - 36th Annual Christmas Concert

Aardvark Jazz Orchestra 36th Annual Christmas Concert
Sunday, December 14, 2008 at 7:30 p.m.
Emmanuel Church, 15 Newbury Street, Boston, Maine
Tickets: $15 at the door
Information: 617-776-8778 or 617-452-3205

Join the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra for music in the spirit of the season as the band presents its 36th Annual Christmas Concert on Sunday, December 14, 7:30 pm, at Emmanuel Church, 15 Newbury Street, Boston. The band will play selections from Duke Ellington’s Second Sacred Concert, original compositions by Aardvark founder and music director Mark Harvey, and fresh arrangements of carols from the band’s three Christmas CDs. Featured pieces will include O Come O Come Emmanuel, The Carol of the Birds, Ellington’s The Shepherd, and Harvey’s Benedictus, a perennial Aardvark Christmas favorite.

Continuing the band’s 36-year tradition of donating proceeds to a worthy cause, this year’s concert will benefit the arts and social outreach program of Emmanuel Church.

The Aardvark Jazz Orchestra held its first concert December 23, 1973, at the Church of the Covenant in Boston as a benefit for the Chelsea Fire Fund. Every year since then, the band has given a Christmas concert to support a deserving cause. Past beneficiaries have included Doctors Without Borders, American Friends Service Committee, Rosie’s Place, Pine Street Inn, Streetpeople Unlimited, and the homeless outreach programs of Emmanuel Church.

Winner of the 2000 Independent Music Awards, the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra is known for its exhilarating concerts spanning the jazz spectrum, from the music of Ellington and other jazz greats to original works by founder/music director Mark Harvey, to performances with film, dance, and poetry. The band has premiered more than 100 works for jazz orchestra and has released 10 CDs (Leo Records, 9Winds, other labels) to international critical acclaim, including the latest disc, American Agonistes (Leo Records), which Billboard.com called “a stunning hour of music that is in turn beautiful, poignant and raucous.”

Music director Mark Harvey has recorded with George Russell (Blue Note) and Baird Hersey (Arista/Novus) and performed with Gil Evans, Claudio Roditi, Howard McGhee, Sam Rivers, and many others. He is a winner of awards from ASCAP, the National Endowment, and Meet-the-Composer-Lila Wallace/Reader’s Digest Commissioning Program. Dr. Harvey teaches jazz studies at MIT and lectures widely on American music, religion and culture, with a specialty in Ellington’s sacred music.

Emmanuel Church is known for its long tradition of social action and social services, as well as its extensive arts and music programs, including a 30-year relationship with Emmanuel Music and also wide-ranging jazz concerts and programs.

THE AARDVARK JAZZ ORCHESTRA is managed exclusively by AMERICAS MUSICWORKS
Rebecca DeLamotte, managing director, 617-776-8778. Email: delamotte-amw@comcast.net
www.aardvarkjazz.com

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ROSE KORBER’S 17th ART SALON

15 December 2008 to 11 January 2009
- one of the key events in Cape Town’s visual arts calendar -

R O S E *K O R B E R a r t
17th A R T* S A L O N

The summer season sees many new and exciting events in Cape Town, but, for art lovers, possibly none are awaited with as much anticipation as the annual ART SALON, curated by noted Cape Town art dealer and consultant, Rose Korber. This year the Salon promises to live up to the high reputation of its previous incarnations, when it celebrates its 17th anniversary.


The venue will be ROSE KORBER ART, 48 Sedgemoor Road, Camps Bay, Cape Town. The exhibition opens on Monday 15 December 2008 and will run until Friday 11 January 2009. Hours are: 10am to 6 pm daily.

The ART SALON – widely regarded as one of the key events in Cape Town’s visual arts calendar – aims to present a comprehensive and varied overview of the current state of South African art. Artists featured include William Kentridge, Robert Hodgins, Willie Bester, Sam Nhlengethwa, Colbert Mashile, Richard Smith, Kevin Brand, Stephen Inggs, Robert Slingsby, Deborah Bell, Claudette Schreuders, Nina Romm and Wendy Anziska.

Since its inception in 1992, the Art Salon has been a major enterprise, bringing together – under one roof – a large showcase of quality artworks, in various media and styles. In keeping with international trends, this event sees a subtle shift towards the most cutting-edge art , while still maintaining its backbone of ‘classics’, such as John Kramer, Erik Laubscher and Peter Bonney.

With the current trends towards the Contemporary, younger artists, such as Pamela Stretton, Peter Eastman, Sanell Aggenbach, Dan Halter, Kate Gottgens, Jaco Sieberhagen, Penelope Stutterheime, Kathryn Smith, JP Meyer, Ryan Arenson and Andrzej Nowicki, are well represented.

In addition to the traditional genres of landscape and figurative painting, the Art Salon will also feature examples of some of the best in sculpture, photography, ceramics and contemporary Shangaan beadwork.

Leading ceramic artists on this year’s Salon include Louise Gelderblom, Astrid Dahl, Barbara Jackson, Hennie Meyer, Helen Vaughan, Ruan Hoffmann, Laura du Toit, Shirley Fintz and Yvette McGee; while photographers of note include Stephen Inggs, Dale Yudelman and Kathryn Smith.

According to Korber : ‘This year’s Art Salon promises to have a more focused selection, and is more directed towards the demands of the contemporary collector than ever before’.

‘Given the economic crisis facing the world’, she adds, ‘art, and especially South African art, seems to have weathered this storm amazingly well – against the most dire predictions’.

For further information about this exhibition, please contact Rose Korber or Valerie Botha at ROSE KORBER ART, Tel: 021 438 9152

Fax: 021 438 6262
Mobile 083 261 1173 or 082 781 6144
email:roskorb@icon.co.za
Website: www.rosekorberart.com

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Let’s Mix It 2.8 GLX (Fuel Injected)

Featuring

Gary Naidoo, Chad Abrahams
(with a cameo appearance by Julian Naidoo)

Written by Rafiek Mammon & Gary Naidoo

Directed by Rafiek Mammon

Baxter Concert Hall

16 December 2008 to 3 January 2009

Let’s Mix It 2.8 GLX (Fuel Injected) the much-anticipated 3rd incarnation of the popular Let’s Mix It brand opens at the Baxter Concert Hall for a season from 16 December 2008 to 3 January 2009. After successful, acclaimed runs of Let’s Mix It 1 and 2 which had audiences rolling in the aisles, the team is back in funnier and fresher form. Let’s Mix It 2.8 GLX (Fuel Injected) is written by Rafiek Mammon & Gary Naidoo and directed by Mammon.

In the saddle (or driving seat) once again is award-winning TV Talk Show host Hadji Fatgiyah Bardien, portrayed by the inimitable Chad Abrahams, who will be “interviewing” her international guests in her newly-renovated lounge/studio when the show celebrates its 3rd year as South Africa’s number 1 talk show on BEE-TV !!

Regulars like the endearing larger-than-life female Sumo wrestler (and now also personal trainer) Sisanda Gugushe, the lippy ex Miss Gay SA, Felicity Mybergh and (not-so-handy) handyman, Boeta Rajee return to the studio alongside Hadji Fatgiyah’s very odd guests – all played by the versatile Gary Naidoo. North Korean chef, Pi-On-Mi car mechanic-turned-chef is amongst the new guests. He is all about snails and spanners, while Hadji is about Malay curry and spices. Julian Naidoo, radio talk show personality also makes his debut on the show in a cameo appearance.

“In these uncertain times of fuel shortages, power outages and oil price hikes we are fuel-injected and firing on all 9 cylinders”, says Mammon. “Our aim this time is to push the envelope to comedic breaking points.”

“Included in the ticket price is a free workout for your stomach muscles! adds Naidoo. Let’s Mix It 2.8 GLX (Fuel Injected) in typical Cape Flats form, with a distinctive international flavour and promises to be a laugh-a-second bumpy ride. So, fasten your seatbelts. It is brand new – new set, new guests and no, you needn’t have seen the first two in order to understand this one!”

Ticket prices range:
Friday and Saturday R100;
Monday to Thursday R85;
Students and Pensioners R60 (throughout);
Block Bookings of ten or more R65 (available Mondays to Thursdays only);
Charities & Fundraisers R50;
Special New Year’s Eve gala performance R145.

Book at Computicket outlets or The Baxter Theatre Centre, at all Shoprite/Checkers outlets and on line www.computicket.com. For charities, fundraisers & block bookings contact Sharon Alexander on 021 685 7880 at the Baxter.

Some people have seen previous Let’s Mix It shows up to 9 times and the critics have raved so better book your tickets now !

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A call for music instruments

IMAD (The Institute for Indigenous Music Development), a non-profit organization, is calling for donations of music instruments for learners in its care.

IMAD provides music education and arts development for children and youth in disadvantaged communities. The programme is directed by long time music teacher and pianist George Werner, who also directs the Little Giants (http://www.littlegiants.co.za/), one of Cape Town's most renowned youth music initiatives. The Little Giants, and its younger version The Baby Giants, are the showcase music groups for the IMAD programme. IMAD learners have the opportunity to develop their music skills and qualify to enter either of these groups, apart from developing essential lifeskills in their quest to beat poverty.

IMAD presently offers music tuition to learners at two underprivileged schools, York Road Primary in Lansdowne and Eluxolweni Primary in Khayelitsha, with hopes of expanding to more schools. Learners desperately need instruments to help in their musical growth. This call goes out to anyone who is able to donate instruments, used or new, battered, bruised or shining, from among this list:

• Trombones
• Alto Saxes
• Bass guitars
• Acoustic guitars
• Drum kits
• Violins
• Keyboards
• Recorders

Instruments can be dropped off at either of the schools, or if you make contact with IMAD from anywhere in the world, we can advise on suitable arrangements for delivery.

Contact details
imad@jazz.co.za
+27 (0)73 182 5305 or +27 (0)21 637 4924

For more info on IMAD please check the entry From Baby Giants to Little Giants to Great Music Giants - IMAD

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