The captivating, all-star contemporary jazz collective PLURISM, is back on South African soil in December. This will be their second tour, having visited in July, which saw them playing to sold out venues and standing ovations, including at the Standard Bank Youth Jazz Festival in Grahamstown.
PE hometown export Feya Faku will be in town on 20 December at Lunga’s Jazz Place.
Following their first two releases, Untitled Yet and Fufu Tryout, the inventive and multi-faceted collective will present their third album, More Fufu!, in a back-to-back six city tour across South Africa. The collective is formed around prolific Swiss drummer Dominic Egli in collaboration with legendary South African trumpeter Feya Faku, bassist Fabien Iannone and Ganesh Geymeier on tenor saxophone.
Described as a ‘colourful declaration of love to Africa’, More Fufu! pays homage to the continent’s melting pot of musical and culinary offerings. The music expresses the band’s creative approach to jazz, which incorporates complex driving grooves and eruptive solos, with highlights of raw sensuality, explosive coolness and earthy playfulness.
Drummer Dominic Egli is both versatile and extremely energetic. He has been said to have a style which encompasses a dynamic spectrum, from full-throttle power to an airy intimacy. His influential compositions are deeply rooted in the jazz tradition and have seen him play with numerous international acts, as well as bands from his native Switzerland.
Feya Faku is one of the most respected artists on the South African jazz scene and has also found international acclaim, playing at festivals and clubs from the USA to Europe. He has released multiple albums and his trumpet has found its way into collaborations with such luminaries as Abdullah Ibrahim, Bheki Mseleku and Winston Mankunku Ngozi. Faku was the artist-in-residence at the Centre for African Studies at Basel University (Switzerland) in 2006, and he has a long history of working with Swiss musicians. He adds his characteristically warm, soulful sound and his supreme technical skill to this project.
Aged just 26, double bassist Fabien Iannone is already a household name in Switzerland and abroad, having played with the likes of Dee Dee Bridgewater, Nduduzo Makhathini and George Schuller. Described as an elegant, passionate yet subtle player,?Fabien invests his characteristic listening skills and?a profound understanding of his structural?role and responsibilities into the various projects he finds himself in.
Ganesh Geymeier is one of the prominent faces of Switzerland’s young generation of jazz musicians. Geymeier has not only made a name for himself with his own successful personal projects; Holunderblüten, That Pork, Bad Resolution, but has been celebrated internationally with the Swiss/South African band The Rainmakers. His voluminously flexible sound, powerful lines which oscillate between hymnic and ecstatic-effervescent passages, deep musical spirituality, and his ability to integrate all this into improvisation, make him a highly sought-after voice among his peers.
Plurism’s More Fufu! tour will kick off on Friday, 15 December at the home of jazz, the Orbit, in Braamfontein, Johannesburg. The Orbit is well known for its listening culture, appreciated by the local and international jazz community.
The collective then moves south for a performance at Fort Hare University Music Department, East London, on Saturday, 16 December, hosted by top SA pianist Nduduzo Makhathini.
Heading back up the coast to Durban, Plurism performs at The Chairman, a venue fast becoming one of Durban’s best-kept secrets, on Sunday, 17 December. The band will also share some of their expertise with fellow musicians, young and old, in a free workshop organized by Mfana Mlambo on Monday, 18 December.
The ensemble returns to the Eastern Cape on Tuesday, 19 December when they perform at the Steve Biko Centre in the Ginsberg Township of King William’s Town. The Centre focuses on translating global interest in the legacy of anti-apartheid activist Bantu Stephen Biko into a development resource for the region.
They then play on Wednesday, 20 December at Lunga’s Jazz Place in Port Elizabeth, Feya Faku’s home town.
Concluding the tour on Thursday, 21 December, Plurism will perform at the Slave Church in Long Street, Cape Town. This historic building is the oldest mission church in the country and the third oldest church of any denomination to hold its original form.
Plurism’s SA Tour is realised with financial support from Ville de Lausanne, Canton de Vaud, Pro Helvetia, Suisa Foundation, Schweizer Interpretenstiftung & Kultur Stadt Bern.
- Wednesday 20 December – Lunga’s Jazz Place, Port Elizabeth
- Time: 19h00
- Tickets: R100
- Bookings:?bookings@artevivamanagement.com?
Alan Straton
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