Mazwai, Faku headline Mandela Bay Jazz Legacy Festival

Internationally renowned musicians Thandiswa Mazwai and Feya Faku will headline this weekend’s Mandela Bay Jazz Legacy Festival at the Mandela Bay Theatre Complex (MBTC).

The festival on The Opera House main stage on Saturday, is a tribute to the culture of jazz appreciation stretching back to the early 1900s in Gqeberha and Kariega.

This region has birthed jazz stars such as the late great Zim Ngqawana, Dudu Pukwana, Lulu Gontshana and Dudley Tito, and today Nelson Mandela Bay continues to incubate musical talent to the extent that it is often dubbed SA’s “jazz academy”.

The metro is also home to trumpeter Fezile “Feya” Faku, who was born in New Brighton 60 years ago.

It is fitting that this multitalented composer and performer will open the Mandela Bay Jazz Legacy Festival as the theatre complex honoured him with the first Isakhono Performing Arts Awards for Jazz Excellence earlier in 2022.

Through the Isakhono Performing Arts Award, the theatre complex will continue to honour excellence in jazz.

The MBTC Performing Arts Business Support division created the awards to provide a platform to acknowledge and reward deserving artists.  

At the first Isakhono Awards in January, sport, arts and culture minister Nathi Mthethwa acknowledged that “Gqeberha is the heartbeat of the creative sector in our country [and] the province has proven to be very objective in continuing to make the lives of creatives better”.

Mazwai — also known as King Tha — is another multifaceted creative.

Though many know her as the lead vocalist and songwriter of ’90s Kwaito group Bongo Maffin, she has since developed a strong solo career.

Her Pan Africanist background has helped shape Mazwai’s strong conscience, and she uses music and song to speak out about social evils — her Funk Africa, for example, was originally dedicated to a victim of homophobic violence.

Mazwai has been quoted as saying she will use her music “as a weapon to fight the injustices that women and queer people face”.

She also had the honour of singing her hauntingly majestic, Nizalwa Ngobani, at the funeral of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela in 2018.

Known for her blend of isiXhosa rhythms, mbaqanga, funk, jazz and reggae, Mazwai is working on a new album which draws inspiration from traditional African rhythms and inspiration.

From her first solo project, the double-platinum Zabalaza of 2004, to 2021’s Afro-house collaboration with Oskido and Ntsika, Ayazizela, audiences have a treat in store.

Now in her mid-40s, Mazwai is a woman at the peak of her powers — and ready to bring it to the Opera House stage.

Faku recently wrapped up two new albums, Impilo with Cuban pianist David Virelle and Swiss bass player Fabian Gisler, and Live at the Bird’s Eye, recorded in Switzerland with various collaborators over the Covid-19 pandemic.

Though the Mandela Bay Theatre Complex is a familiar stage for Faku, this is the first time that Mazwai is performing at the “Grand Old Lady”.

Tickets for the double bill which starts with Faku at 7pm and moves on to Mazwai, cost R200 and are on sale at www.webtickets.co.za or by calling 041-586-2256.

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