30 Mar 2009 Dianne Reeves makes a surprise appearance at Cape Town International Jazz Festival’s free concert. Cape Town International Jazz Festival’s pulls out all stops for Free Community Concert!

It’s not an April’s fool joke. United States (US) vocalist Dianne Reeves makes a surprise appearance this Wednesday 01 April at the ‘Free Community Concert’ jointly organised by the Cape Town International Jazz Festival, Cape Town Central Improvement District (CCID) and Cape Town Partnership. 

The ‘Free Community Concert’ is a show that is held prior the festival for the people of Cape Town who cannot afford the main concerts or who treat the free concert as a warm-up to the two-day musical extravaganza. “With us celebrating our tenth anniversary we thought of no other better way of saying: ‘thank you Cape Town’, than presenting Dianne Reeves at this year’s Free Community Concert. With her touch of class and exuberant voice, Dianne Reeves’ appearance on Wednesday in the heart of the city’s Greenmarket Square, will be special”, said festival’s production director Billy Domingo when he
explained today’s decision to feature Reeves at the open-air concert.

Dianne Reeves, who is the premier female jazz vocalist in the world today, comes to the Cape Town riding on a crest of a successful music career. The singer who grew up in Denver is the only singer to win Grammy Awards in the Best Jazz Performance category for three consecutive years.  She scooped these with her 2000 In the Moment, 2001 The Calling: Celebrating Sarah Vaughan and 2003 A Little Moonlight.  As if this was not enough, the 52-year old singer took her fourth Best Jazz Vocal Grammy in 2006 with the soundtrack of George Clooney’s movie Good Night, and Good Luck.

Known for her impeccable phrasing, Reeves has the ability to whisper a ballad into listener’s ears while she is equally capable to swirl and hit the highest register with her voice. The elegance with which she
treats her lyrics leaves those listening spellbound. As a bandleader, Reeves has also a way that beckons others to explore. These are skills that have been polished over a long period of time as a professional
singer.

Born into a musical family, began to sing at school. It was while singing with a school band that Reeves met trumpeter Clark Terry who encouraged her to study music at the University of Colorado. After university, the singer who gives you a kick with her voice launched her career as a full-time musician. She began to play with people such as saxophonist Stanley Turrentine and pianist Billy Child. Reeves attributes her musical versatility to her work with diverse groups such Caldera - a band led by Eduardo del Barrio; Sergio Mendes and Harry Belafonte’s band. But the biggest break for the US vocalist was in 1987 when she landed a recording contract with Blue Note records, a company she is till with.

Reeves, has a new album, When You Know. Listening to it you are left in no doubt about the singer’s ability to dig from what is obvious. To paint different waymarks of love, Reeves took songs such as the 'Temptations’ ”Just My Imagination”, Minnie Ripperton’s 1975 hit “and Cy Coleman/Peggy Lee classic “I’m in Love Again”. Her interpretation of these brings out shimmer and glitter from these oldies.
 
On the evening of the concert, Reeves joins the township-based jazz outfit The Incredibles; budding local Afro-soul songbird Nomfusi; Cape Town award-winning vocalist and songwriter Claire Phillips; Dutch
hip-hop band Pete Philly and Perquisite; and US leading proponents of Philadelphian soul music The Stylistics.

SPECIAL TRAINS FROM THE FREE CONCERT

A huge bonus for those traveling to town by train is that Metrorail, will be operating three special trains departing Cape Town Station at 10:30 pm.

All Jazz lovers traveling by train to Cape Town on Wednesday 1st April 2009 are to make use of the existing normal Metrorail train service on the forward journeys. Special trains for such persons have been scheduled for the return journeys after the event, and are reflected below.


1.    CAPE FLATS LINE  

TRAIN 0405  (STOPPING ALL STATIONS)

Cape Town (via Cape Flats)                       D:  23:00
(Platform 15)  

Heathfield                                                          A:
23:40

 

2.    CENTRAL LINE

TRAIN 0409 (STOPPING ALL STATIONS)

Cape Town (via Pinelands)                          D:   23:10
(Platform 17)  

Kapteinsklip                                                       A:
00:01

3.    NORTHERN LINE

TRAIN 0413  (STOPPING ALL STATIONS)

Cape Town (via Maitland)                           D:  23:05
(Platform 9)  

Bellville
A:  23:41

 

Road Closures

The public is advised that Church Street at Adderley will be closed on
Wednesday on 1 April 2009.