Bush Radio is giving you and your partner the chance to attend both days of the 2018 Cape Town International Jazz Festival happening at the CTICC on the 23rd and 24th of March.
We are giving away a set of double passes to 2 lucky listeners.
To enter this lucky draw SMS the keyword: JAZZ + your name and surname to 32158. (You will receive a sms confirming your entry)
Each double weekend pass is valued at over R2500.
The SMS line will close at 10am on Friday 23 March and the winners will be announced after 11am during the Morning Cruise. * You will need to collect your tickets by 2pm Friday if you are a winner with positive identification.*
Enter as often as you like to improve your chances.
Tonight at 8pm on Connected 2 Jazz on Bush Radio 89.5FM we celebrate another centenary: that of innovative trumpeter and bandleader Dizzy Gillespie, who, with Monk, Charlie Parker and a few others, was responsible for introducing bebop into jazz.
Thelonious Sphere Monk was born 100 years ago today. This bebop pioneer, who wrote some of the most memorable compositions in jazz, was a true original – as a person, as a pianist, as a composer.
In CONNECTED 2 JAZZ on Bush Radio 89.5fm tonight (Tuesday, 10 October 2017) at 8pm, Nigel Vermaas will profile this great musician.
Sathima Bea Benjamin (17 October 1936 – 20 August 2013)
All of us at Bush Radio would like to share our condolences with all the family, friends and fans of Sathima Bea Benjamin who passed away yesterday. South African jazz singer and wife of pianist Abdullah Ibrahim, Sathima Bea Benjamin has died at the age of 76. Sathima was born in Johannesburg and raised in Cape Town.In the 1960’s Sathima and husband Abdullah Ibrahim moved between Europe and New York.
Trailer to the 2010 documentary on Sathima: “Sathima’s Windsong”
In 1979, she launched her own record label, Ekapa, primarily to produce and distribute her music. Between 1979 and 2002, she released eight albums: ‘Sathima Sings Ellington’, ‘Dedications’, ‘Memories and Dreams’, ‘Windsong’, ‘Lovelight’, ‘Southern Touch’, ‘Cape Town Love’, and ‘Musical Echoes’.
Jazz Specialist and Bush Radio presenter Nigel Vermaas said Sathima was one of the icons of South African Jazz, however she wasn’t that recognised in this country because she spent most of her career in the United States where she was highly valued.
Sathima and Bush Radio volunteer, Ronnie Green enjoying a laugh and a cup of tea at the station
In October 2004, South African president Thabo Mbeki bestowed upon her the Order of Ikhamanga Silver Award in recognition for her excellent contribution as a jazz artist in South Africa and internationally, as well as for her contribution to the struggle against apartheid. This year she received the Lifetime achievement award at the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz.
Jazz educator and musician, Paul Sedres said Sathima was able, through her music, to represent a big sector of our population and the ideals that we wanted in terms of our social change during the apartheid era.
Sathima Bea Benjamin and Abdullah Ibrahim had two children Tsakwe and Tsidi (hip-hop artist Jean Grae).
Editor of the South African Association for Jazz Education, Diane Rossi said one of the highlights was when Sathima graced the Crypt Jazz restaurant stage on International Jazz Day this year, and in the audience were her family and fans.
On CONNECTED 2 JAZZ on Tuesday night at 8pm, 30th October, Nigel Vermaas will be devoting his whole show to singer Erika Lundi, whose excellent cd ERIKA LUNDI, FROM CAPE TOWN has been released on the Jazz Potjie label.
Erika sings jazz, rock, funk, soul, you name it, and has a great voice and a wonderful ear. “She should be far better known than she is”, says Nigel.
Erika will talk about her early days here and outside the country, and the crazy nature of “the jazz life”. Although she is intensely focussed on her music, Erika also loves to laugh – often at her own expense. “And she seems entirely without ego”, adds Nigel.
Her friend Michele Maxwell (well-known singer, pianist & actress) shares her insights about Erika, as does keyboard player and Jazz Potjie Producer Andreas Wellmann.
This two-hour-long feature will, of course, include lots of music, mainly Erika singing with musicians of the calibre of Mac McKenzie, George Werner, Hilton Schilder, James Kibby, Wesley Rustin, Andreas himself and many more, but there’ll also be a few tracks from U.S. artists who’ve influenced or mentored her, such as Nancy Wilson, Dizzy Gillespie and Kenny Barron.
“Whether she’s talking to you or singing, Erika really knows how to tell a story”, says Nigel, “and I know she’ll make this edition of CONNECTED 2 JAZZ a very special one.”
On the 13th December 2011 at 8pm on Connected 2 Jazz ((13 December 2011 at 8pm), Nigel Vermaas will be paying tribute to the late Zim Ngqawana (25 December 1959 – 10 May 2011).
On CONNECTED 2 JAZZ on Tuesday night 4 October at 8 o’clock, Bush Radio 89.5fm will be celebrating the life and music of the late Basil Moses – bassist supreme – who passed away on 5 June, having suffered many strokes as a result of cancer.
You’ll hear Basil in duo, trio and quartet settings as well as a larger ensemble. You also hear the insights and memories of Basil’s brothers, Eddie and Cliffie, as well as those of Dave Ledbetter, Sathima Bea Benjamin, Gavin Minter, Hilton Schilder, Andreas Wellmann, William Rezant, Emily Bruce, Paul Sedres, Theo Lawrence and Cliff Wallis. Excerpts from Basil’s funeral service at St Marks Church in Athlone on 10th June will also be included in the two-hour tribute.
Ezra Ngcukana, tenor sax, Wesley Rustin, bass, Gugulethu, Cape Town, South Africa. January 2010. (Photo courtesy of John Edwin Mason, 2010)
We thought 2010 was a bad year for South African jazz but 2011 seems to be rivalling it. We have already lost Duke Ngcukana, Ernest Mothle and Zim Ngqawana.
On his CONNECTED 2 JAZZ show on Bush Radio 89.5 fm on Tuesday 7th June from 8 – 10 pm, Nigel Vermaas will be celebrating the lives of the two Ngcukana Brothers who passed away within 9 months of each other, Ezra and Duke, as well as their father, Christopher Columbus Ngcukana aka Mra. Helping me to remember the family will be the youngest of the brothers, Mfana Ngcukana, musicians Sylvia Mdunyelwa, George Werner and Mark Fransman, as well as writer Sindiwe Magona They all have unique insights into these three strong personalities and enduring artists.
We will also feature Zim Ngqawana’s version of YOU THINK YOU KNOW ME, a composition by Mongezi Feza (of the Blue Notes) which became closely identified with Ezra. Zim was a pallbearer at Duke’s funeral. In due course CONNECTED TO JAZZ will honour this jazz giant.
Nigel has broadcast documentary-style tributes to a number of our departed jazz heroes including Winston “Mankunku” Ngozi, Miriam Makeba, Johnny Fourie, Alex van Heerden, Robbie Jansen, Gito Baloi and Hotep Idris Galeta.
CONNECTED 2 JAZZ can be heard every Tuesday night from 8 – 10 on Bush Radio 89.5 fm. Aside from playing a wide range of jazz, it also attempts to explore the connections between jazz and other music.
If you’re a MY KINDA JAZZ fan, the bad news is that Nigel Vermaas’s show ends on 30 April after 5 years of bringing you his personal selection from 8 to 10 on a Saturday night.
The good news is that he’s back on Tuesday 3 May with CONNECTED 2 JAZZ. The time stays the same, 8 – 10 p.m..
“The airwaves are a bit overloaded with jazz on Saturday nights”, says Nigel, “with very little through the week. CONNECTED 2 JAZZ will change that. As the name implies, it’s a show that makes connections: connections with jazz itself, connections with those who play jazz, connections with music that has some relation to jazz but is not necessarily what the purists would classify as jazz, and many other connections, from comparing genres to finding surprising similarities.”
Nigel has been presenting jazz and other music shows on radio for over 30 years and he’s interviewed many prominent jazz musicians, including Abdullah Ibrahim, Cassandra Wilson, Abbey Lincoln, Kesivan Naidoo, Hotep Idris Galeta, Jason Moran, George Duke, Johnny Fourie, Archie Shepp, Courtney Pine, Charles Lloyd and Toots Thielemans. He’s made countless documentaries on jazz, focusing on the Cape Town International Jazz Festival over last 12 years. He’s also compiled in-depth tributes to a number of our late jazz musicians, including Robbie Jansen and Alex van Heerden.
Be CONNECTED 2 JAZZ on Tuesday nights on Bush Radio 89.5 from 3 May from 8 p.m. till 10 p.m.
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