FollowTagore’s Jazz Bar [ 42 Trill Road, Observatory, Cape Town ] :
Wednesdays: Ntshuks Bonga‘s Trio (with Shane Cooper & Jonno Sweetman)
Fridays: Adrian Muparutsa‘s quartet
Saturdays: Lwanda Gogwana‘s quartet
All shows start at 9.30pm – bar closes at 1.30am.
Entry is freer than the new SA.
Eastern Cape born trumpeter, Lwanda Gogwana plays some re-arranged original compositions and jazz standards off his debut album, The Lwanda Gogwana Songbook Chapter 1 during his residendency.
Fusing traditional Xhosa sounds with innovative, African/jazz harmonies and contemporary rhythms, Gogwana draws inspiration from sounds by artists as diverse as Moses Molelekwa, Terence Blanchard, Hugh Masekela, Feya Faku, Thandiswa Mazwai, Suthukazi Arosi, Roy Hargrove and Miles Davis. This is music constantly in search of itself, open to change, confusion, giving and freedom.
A musician, composer, arranger and producer, Gogwana has played venues around the world, from Cape Town to Germany and The Reunion Islands, sharing stages with the likes of Lulama Gaulana, Simphiwe Dana, Neo Muyanga, Ezra Ngcukana, Tete Mbambisa, Robbie Jansen, Marcus Wyatt, Nomfusi and more. He has recorded with Jimmy Dludlu, Bokani Dyer, Simphiwe Dana, Camillo Lombard, Ezra Ngcukana, Buddy Wells and Max Vidima.
Born in Johannesburg, Ntshuks Bonga has been resident in the United Kingdom since 1970. His playing, however, remains steeped in Xhosa folk music and that of the legendary South African bands exiled to this country, the Blue Notes and the Brotherhood of Breath.
He has collaborated with musicians such as Claude Deppa, Oren Marshall, Maggie Nicols and Louis Moholo-Moholo. Whilst sitting firmly in the lineage of the great Kippie Moeketsi and Dudu Pukwana, he is equally conversant with the impassioned sounds of players such as Peter Brotzmann and Albert Ayler.
Music runs deep in Adrian Muparutsa‘s blood. As part of Zimbabwean’s legendary Muparutsa family, he grew up surrounded by mbira, pop, reggae, rhumba and soul sounds.
A jazz-man himself, he filters these influences into a unique instrumental language. A regular at club venues and festivals in Zimbabwe and South Africa, as both a solo artists and as part of Color Blu, has has performed alongside Oliver Mtukudzi, Dorothy Masuka, The Cool Crooners, Judith Sephuma, Ray Phiri, Jimmy Dludlu, the late Jabu Khanyile, and many, many others.