Cape Town - The Cape Town International Jazz Festival kicked off last night at the CTICC as top tier international jazz music sensations took to stage for the annual event.
After a four-year hiatus, Africa’s Grandest Gathering lived up to its name once again.
Dr Iqbal Survé, chairperson of the Sekunjalo Group, along with his family rubbed shoulders with the artists ahead of the show on Friday.
The Survé family met the artists at Hotel Sky in the CBD.
Survé also made a special announcement where he said the family is committing to giving R100-million to the CTIJF for a further three years.
His announcement was met by cheers and applause from guests in attendance.
“The festival has been owned by the Survé family since 2007. We’ve had amazing artists here from all over the world and we had a break because of Covid-19.
“The family is committing another R100m to the festival for the next three years. What’s often not known about what we’re doing in music is that we fund 80 schools, teachers and instruments, we have the edu-jazz band, we fund the master classes. We’ve sent a lot of young South Africans and Africans on music scholarships, etc.
“So this has happened for about 15 years as a family. We’re very committed to arts and culture and the festival for us is not a business to be frank, it’s running amazingly well, but for us, it’s a philanthropic endeavour where we want to give back to music.
“You want to continue to promote South African artists, African artists, integrate with the community and the festival is so highly ranked; next year we are twinning with another major festival in the world. So we can have a stage there and they are going to have a stage here.
“But we are so happy to have all of your artists here, I must thank you for your commitment to the festival.”
The festival opened Friday evening and continues today at 5pm, with free-to-attend masterclasses at the Artscape Theatre Centre also taking place at 9am today.
The SA line-up includes platinum-selling Queen of Afro-jazz, Judith Sephuma, award-winning virtuoso guitarist, Jimmy Dludlu, The Voice SA star and platinum record seller songbird, Ami Faku, the Hilton Schilder Quintet, jazz vocalist, pianist and composer, Thandi Ntuli, and the ever-popular Mi Casa.
International artists include Tunde Baiyewu of Lighthouse Family (UK), alternative R&B group Moonchild (US), Grammy-winning bassist virtuoso and experimental musician, singer, and songwriter MonoNeon (US) and Francesca Biancoli (Italy/SA).
Lindsay Rhoda, head of talent at espAfrika, founders and organisers of the CTIJF, said the line-up has delivered a masterful blend that showcases the global melting pot of cultures and storytelling, and one that embraces all ages, including a younger audience.
The masterclasses starts at 9am and attendees are encouraged to register online to secure their spots, as seating is limited.
To book for the free masterclasses, please register here: www.capetownjazzfest.com/ctijf-2024-masterclass-registration-form/
General admission festival ticket at R950 per night per person which gives access to Kippies and Manenberg stages.
Tickets are on sale through Ticketmaster.