I am a newby to jazz but ever since I covered the International Jazz Extravaganza at the Durban ICC last year I have been listening to this particular genre of music. I have even bought jazz cd’s but only African jazz as that has a really unique sound and feel to it. After watching the special Mother’s Day performances on Sunday at the BAT Centre I have come to the conclusion that jazz musicians are the most passionate musicians that I have seen. I was blown away by the performances of Nomagugu Makhatini and Gloria Bosman along with their band members as well.
I plucked up the courage, as I am quite a shy person, to introduce myself to my hero from last year’s IJE, Nduduzo Makhathini and once again it was a humbling experience. Before I could say anything he recognized our company logo on my shirt and started passionately thanking me for the pics that I took at last year’s concert and how he had shared them all over social media. I was there to thank him for his passion for music and how he inspires me and all he could do was go on about me. He is a remarkable person and I made sure that I got one of the other photographers to take a pic of the two of us with my own camera. What an honour and a moment that I will cherish.
Nduduzo’s wife Nomagugu was the first performer and she was just as passionate and talented as her husband. Imagine being in their home and asking for a bedtime lullaby. You would probably wake up in the morning and they would still be singing away lost in their passionate art form. Gloria Bosman was up next and she was incredible. Once she is on stage, I don’t know what she is like off stage, she lets go and lets the music take over and doesn’t hold back for one second. She was even doing a bit of break dancing at one point. She is an amazing performer and entertainer as anything goes and it is all about the music and how you can get lost in it. Their are a few more concerts taking place before the main IJE at the Durban ICC on the 17th June so if you can I would highly recommend attending them as well as making sure that you have your ticket booked for the main event as well. Be inspired! For more corporate events covered by OD Media go to here