Brenda Fassie
Standard Bank Joy of Jazz, which takes place from September 25 to 27, will mark 20 years of South African democracy with two performances by Mzanzi Golden Voices who will perform the music of the late Brenda Fassie who died 10 years ago.
A younger generation of songbirds – Asanda Bam, Brenda Mtambo, Lindiwe Maxolo, Nonfundo Xaluva, Thiwe Mbola and Wanda Baloyi – who have made a mark in the jazz, Afro-soul and gospel genres will pay homage to the undisputed queen of pop with renditions of some of her memorable compositions.
They will be accompanied by Germany’s Hessian State Jazz Youth Orchestra (Kicks & Sticks) under the direction of conductor Wolfgang Diefenbach with Tshepo Mngoma as the musical director.
Brenda Mtambo, Nonfundo Xaluva and Thiwe Mbola share the stage for the first performance on the Mbira Stage on Friday, September 26, at 19h45 with Asanda Bam, Lindiwe Maxolo and Wanda Baloyi headlining on Saturday, September 27, at 19h00on the same stage
The mercurial Fassie was the first musician of her generation to publicly sing about the then jailed Nelson Mandela in a stirring song titled Black President (1989), a soulful track that poignantly captures those dark days of apartheid 50 years ago when “the people’s president was taken away by security men”. She sings about the struggle hero who broke rocks but whose spirit was never broken.
In the 1980s, a period when the apartheid authorities and the recording industry made it a crime to perform songs that captured the social and political mood of the times, Fassie stood up to be counted among the few who dared to sing truth.
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