SA, Swiss musos form jazz collaboration

 

They will be playing their exuberant “music of intention” throughout Southern Africa from 27 June to 13 July 2014, supported by Pro Helvetia, the Swiss arts council.

 

The collaboration came about as a result of a chance encounter. Oester, Geymeier, Mkhize and Sikade met at the National Arts Festival in 2011, when the seed was planted to get together and jam on a more regular basis. This camaraderie and shared musical philosophy has since blossomed into a more formal collaboration, with a series of successful concerts in Switzerland and the release of an album, Playing at the Bird’s Eye, recorded live at the Basel jazz club of the same name in 2012.

 

Distinctive sounds

 

Mkhize is the 2012 Standard Bank Young Artist for jazz, and is known for his distinctive piano playing. He has also worked as a producer for the likes of Themba Mkhize (his father), Sibongile Khumalo and Kabelo, and served as musical director for the late Miriam Makeba for many years. Sikade, a talented drummer, has worked with such luminaries as Feya Faku, Bheki Mseleku, Robbie Jansen, Barney Rachabane, Darius Brubeck and the late Zim Ngqawana.

 

Oester, on contra bass, is regarded as one of Europe’s leading jazz bassists, and also lectures at the music academies of Basel and Lausanne. Fellow Swiss Geymeier, on tenor saxophone, has a style that pulses with emotional fire while being buoyed by a delicate spaciousness.

 

Tour itinerary: Baenz Oester and the Rainmakers

 

 

For more info, go to www.baenzoester.com.