‘They were swinging…’
On Sunday the 4th April, four of South Africa’s finest jazz musicians were in full swing. Performing at the first ‘Abound’ presented event, Bruce Baker on drums, Melvyn Peters on piano, Debbie Mari on vocals and Logan Byrne on upright bass came together as the Bruce Baker Quartet. The audience moved from a bit of humming, to a lot of clapping, to a standing ovation. Peters, beaming from the response to their performance, said that the Pietermaritzburg audience is the most appreciative in the country. Besides a bit of bad lighting and a crackly bass cable in the first set, it was a great night of superb jazz. There was even a guest appearance by a field mouse- who managed to steer clear of Bruce’s pumping left foot, on the high-hat cymbal pedal.
Top Left: Bruce Baker. Top Middle: Logan Byrnes. Top Right: The Bruce Baker Quartet. Bottom: Melvyn Peters. Images supplied by John Robinson (john@ihloimages.co.za)
Live Jazz- the Bruce Baker Quartet.
There is an article in The Witness on Bruce Baker, the drummer who features in our first jazz concert. You can read it here.
Live Jazz, 4 April, Pietermaritzburg
Tired of listening to Hannah Montana? Join us for some real music, in our first Abound-hosted event: Live Jazz with the Bruce Baker Quartet. On the 4th of April, the Bruce Baker Quartet, featuring Melvin Peters on piano, Debbie Mari on vocals, Logan Byrne on double bass and Bruce Baker on drums, will be making sweet music, on the campus of UKZN, Pietermaritzburg.
Peters, who has been performing as a jazz pianist since the early 80’s, has shared the stage with many of South Africa’s jazz legends. Mari has featured as a vocalist on a number of albums, including George Mari’s, My Mecca and Darius Brubeck’s, Before It’s Too Late. Byrne has free-lanced as a double-bass player for a number of musical groups, including the Durban City Orchestra. And Baker, who grew up in Pietermaritzburg, free-lances as a jazz drummer in Durban, whilst lecturing at UKZN School of Jazz. He has performed alongside jazz stars Feya Faku, Winston Makuku, Darius Brubeck and many others.
It is guaranteed to be top class entertainment.
The venue is A1 of the New Arts Block on the UKZN campus. Park in the Hexagon Theatre car-park and follow the signs to A1. To book tickets contact Sam on 0832579059 or (033) 3868009. Refreshments will be sold during the interval.
Abound goes live.
This is the official blogsite of Abound. Abound is a non-profit organisation that exists to promote beauty in the city of Pietermaritzburg, through the medium of the arts. If you live in or near Pietermaritzburg then sign up to our email subscription on the top right hand corner of the page- simply click on the ‘Sign Me Up!’ block. It’s free, we won’t spam you and it’ll keep you up to date on Abound related events.
