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The Cape Town International Jazz Festival hit its 20-year milestone at the weekend with its signature sound, exceptional acoustics and vibes.
When international superstar Chaka Khan hit the stage, she brought the house down with her headline act, unleashing a string of her classics. She left fans happily walking the streets of Cape Town loudly singing Ain’t nobody loves me better.
A huge draw card was pop singer Shekhinah who played at the smaller Bassline stage. The venue was packed with people clamouring to watch her as she delivered her chart toppers.
She was called back for more.
Also on Friday night Soweto-based punk rockers BCUC hit their set with menacing guitar licks and an urgent plea to the white people of Cape Town.
“We want equality by force. It is our right. Dear white people from Cape Town, we are not asking for permission. We do this with love and faith and hope that we all remember what brought us here. Negotiations that were not free and fair for everyone,” the lead singer said on stage to a rapturous response from black revellers and some nods and cautious looks around from the whites in the audience.
Festival director Billy Domingo and his team created a stand-out event. But what arguably makes him proudest is the fact that 95% of his team are women.
“Women run this festival from director of operations to head of marketing. Women multitask better than any man I know and the women on our team approach their work without the constraints of being worried about gender and race. It’s about the work,” he said.
The festival, he said, needed every cent of its R68 million budget, because “if you try to cut costs, you risk having your festival appear to be downgraded”.
Carenza Van Willingh, head of media, marketing and public relations, has worked at the festival for 16 years.
As bomb sweeps began at the Cape Town Convention Centre, she said: “It is always nice seeing how the city gets involved. Clubs and bars offer jazz drinks and specials and that’s what we want – for the festival to elevate everyone in the city.”
Operations manager Eva Domingo, Domingo’s wife, said the entertainment industry “is now dominated by women where it was once by men”.
The festival offers courses to those wishing to pursue either photo or arts journalism. It also holds masterclass sessions during which artists from the festival bill give a small crowd exclusive insights to their process.
In one of these sessions a young man stood up and told the auditorium about the hidden opportunities the festival provided. He is a photographer whose work caught Chaka Khan’s eye on Instagram, which landed him a full-time job.
“She liked my image and it just boosted my Instagram. The next day I got a job offer,” he said.
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