Great tidings await jazz lovers, as Malawi hosts the biggest ever jazz festival this summer, with great South African and Malawian jazz names on the cards.
It is dubbed the Malawi International Summer Jazz Festival, which will host Afro-jazz maestro Hugh Masekela, Ringo Madlingoz, Ray Phiri, Dorothy Masuka, Luis Mhlanga, the African Jazz Ensemble and Mavo Solomon. Malawian jazz artist Erik Paliani will also feature.
According to the festival’s spokesperson Samuel Chiwaka of Free Mantle Management, the three-day affair in Lilongwe will also bring together several Malawian artists including Lulu, saxophonist Dan Sibale and award-winning Mafilika Band.
“We are closely monitoring several local artists in terms of their performance to meet our required international standards. One team of technical expertise will be leaving for South Africa in the next two weeks to be embedded with the technical team in the country to learn more about sound and visuals during Paliani’s South African Pretoria concert on May 18. That is how vigorous we are going in terms of organisation of this festival,” said Chiwaka in Pretoria.
Masekela, the Afro-jazz aficionado who is seen as one of the greatest artists on the African terrain, was last in Malawi five years ago under the auspices of the then Celtel (now Airtel), cellphone network operator.
