US jazz ensemble invites Namibian musicians

The project is a collaborative effort between San Antonio, the City of Windhoek and 10 other sister cities from around the world. The event falls under the Musical Bridges Around the World (MBAW) programme, which is an initiative by the Texan city to bring musicians from different cultural backgrounds to exchange musical knowledge and perform under one roof.

“It is quite an opportunity to be able to jam with jazz musicians from all over the world in San Antonio, which is a renowned American jazz city,” Elemotho told Music In Africa before leaving for the US on Tuesday.

“This is all done in the spirit of collaboration and cultural interaction in order to bridge gaps between nations and the people.

“I was selected from a list of Namibian musicians submitted by the City of Windhoek to the festival organisers, and the San Antonio Jazz Ensemble chose two musicians from our city.”

Apart from Elemotho and Suzy Eises, MBAW has also invited saxophonist Shlomi Kohen (Tel Aviv, Israel), guitarist Prasanna (Chennai, India), guitarist Oscar Zensei Gonzalez (Monterrey, Mexico), saxophonist and flutist Anke Schimpf (Darmstadt, Germany), pianist Sonoda Tomoko (Kumamoto, Japan) and accordionist Victor Prieto (Galicia, Spain) to be part of this year’s International Sister City Jazz Ensemble.

Asked what he intends to share with the US audience, Elemotho, who is the first Namibian artist to win an RFI-France 24 Discoveries Award in 2012, said he would exhibit his African roots and Afro-fusion style.

“I am hoping the jazz ensemble will perform my song ‘Sheshaba’ – a jazz tune with African rhythms that I hope the audiences will groove to,” he said.

“There will be a special last song composed by San Antonio’s legendary jazz pianist, Dr Aaron Prado, for the festival’s grand finale, where all the invited musicians will take part”.

Commenting on the state of Namibian music, Elemotho said: “We are all working hard to put Namibian music and culture out there. There are population and structural issues, but it’s nothing that cannot be fixed with focus and hard work.”

The International Sister City Jazz Ensemble’s performance is one of four concerts making part of the fifth annual International Music Festival from 27 January to 4 February. The other events featured on the festival line-up are the Founder’s Concert, America’s Jazz Icons: Billy Hart Quartet, Tales from the Edges of Spain, and the Barynya Russian Folk Dance Ensemble.