Reach for the stars tonight: Joshua Redman and Jimmy Dludlu @ Standard Bank Acacia Jazz Festival

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Reach for the stars tonight: Joshua Redman and Jimmy Dludlu @ Standard Bank Acacia Jazz Festival

1:45 CAT | 28 Nov 2019

Joshua Redman is in Maputo city since Tuesday and from 7:00 p.m. tonight [Thursday] will be playing at a jazz concert featuring performances by Mozambicans Jimmy Dludlu and Walter Mabas at the Polana Hotel.

At a press conference held Wednesday, Joshua Redman promised to reward the audience with an unforgettable performance at the second edition of the Standard Bank Acacia Jazz Festival. He is among the 2020 Grammy Jazz nominees, in the Best Jazz Instrumental Album category with ‘Come What May’, by the Joshua Redman Quartet.

The US tenor saxophonist said he was honoured to be in Mozambique and to perform for Mozambicans. “This is the first time I’ve been to Mozambique, and my fourth time on the continent, after visiting South Africa twice and Angola once,” he explained.

Our very own legendary guitarist Jimmy Dludlu made a point of explaining that it’s an honour to share the stage with Joshua Redman and Walter Mabas. “It will be one big party. The menu will consist of African and foreign dishes, with guaranteed salt and water at the beginning, cachaça xiguinya and a ‘feijoada’ with everyone,” he joked.

Mozambican guitarist and composer Walter Mabas said: “At no point in my life did I imagine I could share the same stage with great musicians like Professor Jimmy and Joshua. I have been following Joshua’s artistic trajectory for several years. He’s one of my idols.”

Most of the numbers that Mabas will perform at the Standard Bank Acácia Jazz festival will be new: “I will bring original themes and a recreation of a recently deceased Mozambican musician.”

The music festival, which attracts jazz lovers from Mozambique and neighbouring countries, is promoted by Standard Bank in partnership with the Maputo City Council and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

For Standard Bank Director of Marketing and Communication Alfredo Mucavela, the event is a cultural initiative to promote Maputo, putting the country’s capital on the international map and making Mozambique known as a jazz-loving country.

“We want to live and celebrate with the Mozambicans and beyond, as we have also musicians from Eswatini and South Africa participating in the festival. This greatly encourages us, since our goal is to make Maputo a tourist destination,” he said.

The second edition of the festival will also include poetry and fine arts, to broaden the base of Maputo city celebrations and showcase the best of the city.

Joshua Redman

Joshua Redman, son of legendary saxophonist Dewey Redman, was born in Berkeley in the 1990s and began playing the clarinet. At the age of nine, he swapped to the tenor saxophone, which was to become his main instrument

He began working regularly with some of the leading jazz musicians of his generation, such as Peter Bernstein, Larry Goldings, Kevin Hays, Roy Hargrove, Geoff Keezer, Leon Parker, Jorge Rossy and Mark Turner.

In the same year, he won the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Saxophone Competition and began playing and recording with jazz giants such as Jack DeJohnette, Charlie Haden, Elvin Jones, Joe Lovano, Pat Metheny, Paul Motian, Clark Terry and his father.

Entirely dedicated to music, Redman signed a contract with Warner Bros. Records and recorded his first album in 1993, which secured him the first Grammy nomination.

In addition to his own projects, Redman has collaborated with many of today’s top musicians including names such as Dave Brubeck, Chick Corea, Dave Matthews Band, Bill Frisell, Charlie Haden, Herbie Hancock, Quincy Jones, BB King, Joe Lovano, Yo-Yo Ma, Branford Marsalis, Marcus Miller, Paul Motian, Simon Rattle, Dianne Reeves, Rolling Stones, The Roots, Kurt Rosenwinkel, John Scofield, Toots Thielemans, McCoy Tyner and Stevie Wonder, among many others. He wrote and performed the song for Louis Malle’s latest film, Vanya on 42nd Street, and can also be seen and heard in Robert Altman’s Kansas City movie.

Jimmy Dludlu

Jimmy Dludlu was born in Mozambique. When he was 13 years old he first picked up a cousin’s home made guitar and started teaching himself to play by imitating the jazz and Mozambican music he heard on the radio. His first performances were at township weddings and functions with his cousin.

His career took off in earnest in the mid- 1980’s, when he worked with various southern African bands including Impandze from Swaziland, featuring Jamaican singer Trevor Hall, Kalahari and Satari from Botswana, as well as Anansi, featuring the Ghanaian saxophonist George Lee. A highlight of this period was his performance with Anansi at the Botswana Independence celebrations in 1986, alongside a range of African stars including Thomas Mapfumo. In October 1995, Jimmy and his own band C-Base Collective shared the stage with Senegalese singer and guitarist Ismaėl Lo’s African Reconnection Tour in Cape Town. With C-Base Collective, Jimmy performed 2 highly acclaimed shows alongside Courtney Pine at the 1996 Arts Alive Festival in Johannesburg, and found himself a PolyGram recording artist by the end of the year.

His debut album for PolyGram, Echoes from the Past, was released in September 1997 to a wealth of superlatives from the media. The album was also well received by the industry, as Jimmy received 2 FNB SAMA Awards for “Best Newcomer” and “Best Contemporary Jazz Album” in 1998, and by the general public, as sales figures in January 1999 indicated sales in excess of 25 000 copies. The album has since been released in nine territories on the Verve label, including United States, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden and Hungary.

In March 2000, Jimmy was further acknowledged by the South African music industry, winning the “Best Male Artist” category, and with “Essence of Rhythm” taking the “Best Contemporary Jazz Album” prize at the SAMA Music Awards.

Jimmy Dludlu’s style includes wide-ranging influences, combining both traditional and modern elements of jazz drawn from among others Wes Montgomery, George Benson and Pat Metheny, to South African legends Miriam Makeba, Letta Mbulu, Hugh Masekela, Themba Mokwena, and Allen Kwela. He is particularly drawn to the sounds of west and central Africa, as well as Latin America, but says jazz remains his first love. His numerous original compositions fall within the tradition of what has been loosely termed Afro-Jazz.

He perfected his craft at the University of Cape Town where he studied jazz. He has released 8 albums namely: Echoes from the Past (1997), Essence of Rhythm (1999), Afrocentric (2002), Corners of my Soul (2006), Portrait (2007), Tonota (2011), Jimmy Dludlu Live (2015), In the Groove (2016).

In his discography count with participation of various international musicians like Bebe Winans winner of 6 Grammy Awards; Angelique Kidjo two times winner of the Grammy Awards in the category World Music Album; Salif Keita, Hugh Masekela; Judith Sephuma among others.

He performed in several editions of the Cape Town International Jazz Festival, one of the four best in the world, in Lugano Jazz Festival in Switzerland, Calabar Jazz Festival,Nigéria, SAFARICOM Jazz Festival, Kenya, and various concerts around the world.

Source: O País / Standard Bank / Saulkrasti Jazz Festival