I’ve had the privilege of working with Chris for the last 3 years as his vocal coach. It’s been a wonderful journey with many delightful moments. He has finally finished his first album and we are very excited that he is launching this month. Watch out for this boy! He lives and breathes songs. What a natural talent. South Africa is going to hear about this one….
Listen to and buy his album here:
https://itunes.apple.com/za/album/exposure/id944964932
Phew, December was an amazing month filled with wonderful gigs and exciting work opportunities. I feel completely blessed to be able to perform at wonderful venues and with amazing musicians. Here’s a few things I got up to:
The Crypt – Jazz with Andrew Ford, Charles Lezaar & Mike Horne
Such a fun evening with amazing musicians and a wonderful crowd! Thanks Diane Rossie!
New Years Eve with Blaze Function Band
Blaze is a fabulous cover band that suits all crowds for all occasions. We were completely spoiled with a spectacular setting to see the New Year in. I worked with Jeremy Olivier, Frank Paco, Muriel Marco and Shaun Johannes. Super guys!
Pre-Wedding Party Nuy Valley with Blaze
Another beautiful setting in the Nuy Valley with Blaze function band. How lucky are we?
Spectacular Setting in Landscap, Stellenbosch with the Jonny Cooper Orchestra
Wow! What an amazing venue with a beautiful view of the valley. Fun gig with Jonny & the Boys
Pretty wedding at the Vineyard Hotel with Blaze function band
Reminiscing at Jonny Cooper’s Place – can’t believe I’ve been singing with the band for over 12 years now!
Last night we had the pleasure of listening to 12 incredibly talented Cape Town singers competing for the TOP 6 positions. After much debate, it was decided that we would include 7 singers in this year’s Finals. Hanover Street, GrandWest was filled to the brim with enthusiastic supporters of these incredible performers. The Top 7 will perform next week Wed 29th October 2014 at Hanover Street, GrandWest at 8.30pm. Entrance is free. Only 500 people allowed in the venue so get there early. Doors open at 7pm.
These are the lucky 7:
| ADELIA DOUW |
| AMANDA LEMMERT |
| CHANDRE PETERSEN |
| LEAH ADAMS |
| MARGOT DE BRYN |
| WHITNEY OLIVIER |
| ZOE MODIGA |
Great news – OMJ venue is officially being moved to HANOVER STREET from hereon due to space restrictions at Jackson Hall. Many thanks to Morita Bester and GrandWest Casino and Entertainment World for moving heaven and earth to make this possible! Spread the word……………….:)
OMJ 2014 Top 24 Announced
|
Name |
| ADELIA DOUW |
| AMANDA LEMMERT |
| AUSTIN LEE JACOBS |
| BLANCHE OLIVIER |
| CARMEN KEWAQA |
| CHANDRE PETERSEN |
| ERIN CHARLES |
| FRANK PANAOU |
| LAUREN FLATWELL |
| LEAH ADAMS |
| LUKE WILLIAMS |
| MARCE UNDERWOOD |
| MARCO TITUS |
| MARGO DE BRYN |
| MELISSA ERASMUS |
| NELISWA MXUNYWEA |
| NIYAAZ AERENDSE |
| ODWA BONGO |
| PHATHISWA MAGANGANE |
| SARAH BLAKE |
| STEPHANIE ROSE |
| VIRGIL WILLIAMS |
| WHITNEY OLIVIER |
| ZOE MODIGA |
Quarter finals
Semi-finals and finals
Prizes
1 A Foggy Day F C
2 A Kiss to Build a Dream On Bb Ab
3 Ain’t That A Kick in the Head Eb
4 Aint Misbehavin G Bb
5 All of Me Bb F
6 And I love you so Bb F
7 Antonio’s Song Am Gm
8 As time goes by C G
9 At last F
10 At Montreal C G
11 Autumn Leaves Cm Cm
12 Besame Mucho Cm Am
13 Bewitched Bothered and Bewildered Bb G
14 Blue Berry Hill Bb Bb
15 Blue Moon F Bb
16 Bye Bye Blackbird F C
17 Click Song Eb C
18 Close To You C Ab
19 Come Fly with Me Bb G
20 Corcovado C C
21 Days of wine and roses F C
22 Desefinado F F
23 Dindi Eb C
24 Do Nothing Till you hear from me F C
25 Down in Brazil A C
26 Fever Cm Am
27 Fly me to the Moon Am Em28 For Once In my Life G G
29 Girl from Ipanema F F
30 Green Dolphin Street C Ab
31 Have you met Miss Jones F C
32 Hello Dolly Bb F
33 How High The Moon Eb Eb
34 I get a kick out of you Eb Bb
35 I left my heart in San Francisco C F
36 I love you for Sentimental Reasons Eb Bb
37 I’m in the Mood for Love C G
38 It had to be you F D
39 It’s impossible C C
40 I’ve got a crush on you Db
41 I’ve got the world on a String C G
42 I’ve got you under my skin Db Ab
43 Just The Two Of Us C F
44 L O V E Ab Eb
45 Lady’s a Tramp C F
46 Lakushoni Langa C
47 Lately C
48 Laura C F
49 Let there be Love C Ab
50 Let’s Fall in Love C F
51 Like someone in love G G
52 Lullaby of Birdland Dm Cm
53 Mack the Knife C F
54 Making Whoopie Bb
55 Misty Eb C
56 Mona Lisa Db G
57 Moon Dance Fm Cm
58 Moon River C F59 Mr Bojangles F C
60 My Baby Just Cares for me F Bb
61 Nature Boy Dm Bbm
62 New York New York D F
63 Night and Day C Bb
64 Ntylo Ntylo Eb C
65 On a Clear Day G Eb
66 On the Sunny Side of the Street C G
67 One Note Samba Bb G
68 Orange Coloured Sky Bb G
69 Our love is here to stay F C
70 Overjoyed Eb
71 Paper Moon F C
72 Pata Pata C
73 Quando Quando G F
74 Route 66 F Bb
75 Say A Little Prayer for You G
76 Skylark C Ab
77 Smile Eb C
78 Smoke gets in your eyes C Bb
79 Somewhere beyond the Sea F C
80 Somewhere over the Rainbow C Ab
81 Strangers in the Night F C
82 Summer Wind D Bb
83 Summertime Cm Am
84 Sway Cm Am
85 That’s All C G
86 The Look of Love Cm
87 The nearest of you F Bb
88 The Shadow of your Smile F F
89 The way you look tonight C Bb90 They can’t take that away from me C C
91 Unforgettable FIRST CHORD F Bb
92 What a Difference a Day Makes Eb Eb
93 What a wonderful world Eb C
94 When I fall in love Eb C
95 Witchcraft Eb Eb
96 You are the sunshine of my life F Eb
Love singing Nina Simone in the shower? He’s your chance to shine!!
Spotlight Music once again presents : GrandWest Open Mic Jazz 2013
Auditions Every Wednesday from 14 August 2013 to 02 October 2013 (8 weeks)
Quarter finals (top 24) Wednesday 09 October 2013 to 16 October 2013
Venue Jackson Hall
Time Registration opens at 19h30 for a 20h30 start
Cost Free
Restrictions Not open to anyone under 18 or *professional singers
*(Professional singer defined as someone who derives their sole source of income from singing)
Semi Finals (top 12) Wednesday 23 October 2013
Finals (top 6) Wednesday 30 October 2013
Venue Hanover Street
Time 20h30
Cost Free
GrandWest invites would-be jazz vocalists to audition for the fourth annual Open Mic Jazz Singing Competition (OMJ). The auditions take place at Jackson Hall every Wednesday from 14 August 2013 to 2 October 2013. Entrants who are over the age of 18 and are not professional singers need to be at Jackson Hall on audition nights to enter the contest.
Quarter finals
The quarter finals for the top 24 quarter finalists will be held every Wednesday between 9 October 2013 and 16 October 2013, also at Jackson Hall.
Semi-finals and finals
The contest will move to Hanover Street on Wednesday, 23 October to select the top 12 semi finalists. The finals will be held on Wednesday, 30 October 2013, also at Hanover Street. The final top six entrants remaining in the contest will be required to perform two songs each on the night.
Prizes
The winner of the contest will receive R25 000 in cash plus a Shure Sm55 microphone from Wild & Marr, a demo recording session at Nuthouse Studios, Vocal Mentoring from Spotlight Music and Vocal Lessons from Cape Music Institute, Make-up for OMJ2013 Finals as well as portfolio shoot from Flash & Lash of Madness and an invitation from espAFRIKA to perform at their Cape Town International Jazz Festival free Community Concert which takes place on Green Market Square.
The second placed entrant will receive R7 500 cash and a two-night stay for two at the Table Bay Hotel complete with complimentary bed and breakfast plus Shure SM58 Microphone from Wild & Marr, Vocal Mentoring from Spotlight Music, Make-up for OMJ 2013 Finals from Flash & Lash of Madness and a Personal Image Consultation from A New You.
The third placed will receive R5 000 cash plus a one-night mid-week stay for two at the Golden Valley Casino in Worcester including dinner plus Shure SRH 440 Head Phones Wild & Marr, Vocal Mentoring from Spotlight Music, Make-up for OMJ2013 Finals from Flash & Lash of Madness and Personal Image Consultation from A New You.
The participants will be accompanied by accomplished musicians playing piano, double bass and drums.
The judges will focus on vocal technique, song interpretation, stage presence and audience response. The entrants are encouraged to bring their friends, family and fans to cheer and support them. The panel of adjudicators will be made up of Bev Scott-Brown, Clarence Ford and Neil Benjamin.
Entry forms can be collected from Jackson Hall on audition nights and the song list is available on www.grandwest.co.za and www.1049.fm.
For more information, tune into Heart 104.9fm.
Registration opens at 19h30 and the competition begins at 20h30. Entry is free.
Like us on Facebook (GrandWestCasinoAndEntertainmentWorld) or follow us on Twitter (@GrandWestSA). The hashtag for this event is #OpenMicJazz
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Only non-professional singers may enter. Defined by the fact that your main (or sole) source of income is not originated from being employed as a singer.
Only songs from the repertoire list may be performed.
The Jackson Hall band will provide the accompaniment music for the songs/s chosen.
The 24 quarter-finals will be announced after the final audition.
12 semi-finalists will be announced at the end of the 2nd quarter-final.
Six finalists will be announced at the end of the semi-final round.
Three winners will be announced at the end of the finals.
Judges decisions are final.
Must be 18 years or older.
Must provide proof of a valid South African identity document.
This competition is open to South African citizens only.
Entrants may only audition once per year.
Entrants must be present for all competition requirements.
No communication will be entered into with the judges, either written or verbal.
GrandWest and Heart 104.9fm have the rights to publish images and details of all entrants in the media (including social media networks) for publicity purposes.
A maximum of 20 people per night can audition.
Registration takes place between 19h30 and 20h30.
Auditions start at 20h30.
Spotlight Music took a big step in taking on the role of Promoter for the first time. After being approached by Carl Van Rensburg (China) to partner in this first time event, Bev Scott-Brown grabbed the opportunity with both hands and a dream became a reality.
The concept in a nutshell was to create an event that featured the Ballroom Dance Bands in the Western Cape and provide an evening of entertainment for Ballroom Dancers. Six hours of virtual non-stop entertainment as five of the Western Cape’s Top Ballroom bands swirled the dancers on the Grand Arena, Grand West dance floor.
This first time event was supported by over 1000 dancers and besides the usual teething problems with doing something for the first time, this event was a success. Partners for this event were GrandWest Casino and Entertainment World, Bothner Music, Flash of Madness, Sound Stylists, and SMD Technical.
Here are a few pics from backstage. Official photos are still on their way:
Cool Sounds Band backstage…on their way to the Grand Arena stage
The past few days have been wonderfully challenging and a lovely reward at the end with the event being a success! It’s amazing to see a venue transform from a blank canvas to a decorated delight! Everything came together beautifully…..
The Qualite Cheese Awards run annually – a black-tie event that must balance the seriousness of the awards as well as have an element of fun and entertainment. A Qualité Award is a symbol of outstanding quality for dairy products and is only awarded to South African Dairy Champions.
The whole event is managed and run by Ann Dalton (Event Manager for Agri Expo). Gavin Taylor heads up the theme concept, design and entertainment element of the event and I assist him with it’s execution. This year our theme was “Vaudeville” and the venue was transformed into a fantastical circus-themed arena. A ringmaster, unicyclist, human drinks tables, a hoola lady and a juggler welcomed guests in.
The main event kicked off with an Aerial Act wow-ing the crowd from the ceiling, followed by the effortlessly entertaining “3 Tons of Fun” . The main cheese award for 2013 was ushered in with a show-stopping performance from the incredibly talented “Limited Edition Drum Corps”. The evening was a success and super fun. The usually conservative crowd actually got up to dance! Wow!
And the best part is that this coming weekend 26-28 April 2013 we can all go sample and buy some of these delicious cheeses. If you’re interested, visit http://www.cheesefestival.co.za/ to get your tickets!
I was unbelievably excited to be asked to host this year’s Jazz Vocal Masterclass with two times Grammy Nominee, Gregory Porter for the 14th Cape Town International Jazz Festival 2013. My first question was “why me?” and then I decided to not ask why but to just have faith that I would know how to handle it. Thank you espAfrika Wow….what an amazing experience it was. I invited most of the Top 24 Finalists from past Open Mic Jazz Singing Competitions and they were all totally inspired.
Gregory’s talent lies in his effortless ability to share himself on an intimate level and to use his voice as a vehicle to express his views and emotions. Man, the guy can SING! He explained how most of his songs come to him – it’s that moment when you feel a reaction to something. Perhaps something someone said that offended you, or the delightful feeling of gratitude when someone you love presents you with a delicious meal that they’re poured themselves into. Truly every day things, that can be transformed into magical musically connected experiences. We all sat spell bound as he talked, and of course as he sang. His band is incredibly talented and together they create music that moves us into feeling stuff. Amazing!! Please please please do yourself a favour and go listen to the tracks on his site. His voice will wash over you, inspire you and comfort you. http://www.gregoryporter.com./
About Gregory Porter
Gregory Porter is an American jazz vocalist, songwriter and actor focusing on jazz, blues, soul and gospel. Porter’s musical career was launched in 1998 and a year later he was cast in the original It Ain’t Nothin’ But Blues Broadway. He was nominated for Best Jazz Vocal album for his debut album Water at the 2010 Grammy Awards. His sophomore album Be Good released last year was internationally acclaimed for its distinctive vocals and powerful composition. Porter has performed at festivals such as the North Sea Jazz Festival and the National Black Arts Festival in Atlanta. Recent performances include headlining the Wangaratta Jazz Festival with the John McAll quartet in Australia in November 2012. Porter currently resides in New York and is a resident performer at the popular Smoke Jazz & Supper Club.
We took an organic approach to making the record. The process took us from experimental beginnings through two of Cape Towns best studios ... Read More
We took an organic approach to making the record. The process took us from experimental beginnings through two of Cape Towns best studios ... Read More
