​Masterclass and Q&A with widely travelled bluesman Joep Pelt (Netherlands) and Australian indigenous rapper DRMNGNOW.

Sponsored by the Dutch Embassy

Info: 071 340 2030

2PM - 4PM

Wits Music is one of South Africa’s most innovative higher education music departments, preparing students for diverse careers in music in the contemporary world.

Flamenco guitarist extraordinaire and loops specialist Raul Rodriguez (Spain) will present a workshop followed by a performance by the Wits University Orchestra and culminating in a Jam Session.

Presented by Carlo Mombelli - Associate Professor and Head of Department.

Time 5PM

Info: 084 560 0509

A SONG TELLS A STORY is Gallo Record Company's storytelling vehicle and theme for 2024, presenting stories behind some of the best songs ever from their catalogue.

The art of storytelling through song, singers, and musicians crafting lyrics, melodies, and rhythms to paint colourful pictures is what resonates with audiences. Inspired by “A Song Tells A Story", the title of a song by the iconic South African afro-fusion band Stimela from their 1991 album Siyaya, “A song could tell a story of a lifetime, and a song could paint a picture of a dream.”

In this unique concert, Gallo Record Company in partnership with WOMAD SA takes a deep dive and unpacks the stories behind some of the most memorable songs by legendary artists. Some of the artists gracing the stage will include one of South Africa's oldest and most successful Mbaqanga groups, The Soul Brothers, and renowned bassist Lucas Senyatso, among others.

From its ambience, décor and sound quality, The Marabi Club is one of the jewels of the inner city and certainly one of (if not) the finest club presenting live music in South Africa today.

Lifetime Achievement Awards will be bestowed upon Black Moses Ngwenya, Don Mattera (posthumously), jazz journalist Gwen Ansell, arts practitioner Dr Ismail Mahomed and Caiphus Semenya. This concert will also celebrate the anniversary of 30 years of diplomatic ties with Cuba.

BOOKINGS ARE ESSENTIAL

Tickets R250 via Quicket (Excludes Dinner)

Dinner Menu here www.hallmarkhouse.info

Doors open 18h30 | Music From 19h30

Globe trotter, virtuoso guitarist and Mississippi blues man Joep Pelt has been working with his Soweto Soul project since 2015, with whom he has produced multiple recordings and tours in Europe.

Stylistically, Soweto Soul combines older and newer South African genres such as Mbaqanga, Kwela, Amapiano and Maskandi.

The performances at Niki's Oasis will mark an important new chapter for this ongoing project.

These concerts will be filmed and recorded for a new documentary and album which will be used to promote the Soweto Soul project in Europe.

Sponsored by the Dutch Embassy

Entrance R50

Info: 068 228 7670

Friday & Saturday

6 Mabone, led by drummer Lucky Thobela is a dynamic marimba driven fusion group of maskanda, mbaqanga, reggae and jazz, featuring the legendary Thuthukani Cele on accordion and vocals. In true WOMAD collaborative fashion, they are joined by Malian balafon master Mamadou Diabate' & Austrian virtuoso guitarist Klaus Ambrosch on both nights.

Sunday

3pm: Panel Discussion: 50 years of “Rumble in the Jungle” w Ruth Sacks, Mabusha Masekela, Salym Fayad and Sam Mathe.

October 2024 marks the 50th anniversary of The Rumble in the Jungle, the heavyweight championship boxing match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. To promote it, trumpeter Hugh Masekela and producer Stewart Levine organised the Zaire 74 music festival.

The event, notable for its diverse lineup including African artists such as Miriam Makeba and Franco Luambo, American stars such as James Brown and B. B. King, and the Latin American tropical music powerhouse Fania All-Stars, represents a pivotal moment in the exchange of musical and cultural influences between Africa and its diaspora in the Americas. In commemoration, this conversation pays a musical tribute to the artists occupying the cultural and political stage 50 years ago.

4-6pm: Bomaye Sound System, The Smiling Lion, Otro Sur Sound System & DJ Babaganoush

7pm: NOMFUSI in concert. Nomfusi invites us all to join her in her observations of life and to share her devotion to her lineage (Xhosa clicks) and her belief in the possibilities of merging roots sounds - irresistible maskandi guitars, keyboard grooves and township rhythms - with the effervescence of mainstream pop, as well as soul and jazz.

8h30pm: Jam Session including Raul Rodriguez (Spain) and Joep Pelt (Netherlands).

Tickets R100 at the door but booking essential.

Info: 061 417 3236

In his 40-year career as a bass player, band leader and composer, Carlo Mombelli has bridged gaps between genres, musicians and audiences. He is nothing short of a national treasure and his ‘Prisoners of Strange’ project featuring the powerful voice and trombone of Siya Makuzeni, Marcus Wyatt on horns, Justin Badenhorst on drums and composer/bassist Mombelli himself have toured the world and performed on some of the greatest international festivals. Their seminal album ‘Theory’ is still as fresh & innovative as the day it came out.

Raul Rodriguez (Spain) is a virtuoso guitarist, cultural anthropologist, producer, composer and creator of “Tres Flamenco”. His group Son de la Frontera has performed in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Havana, Miami, Mexico City, Montreal, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, Stockholm, Rome, Madrid, Barcelona, Jerez Flamenco Festival, Seville Biennial and Gazpacho de Morón.

In October 2008 he left the Son de la Frontera group and began to develop other more culturally collaborative projects based on the roots of flamenco. Spanish flamenco singer Rey Chams will also feature as a special guest to give the songs that special flamenco feel.

Tickets R200 via Quicket

Info: 079 309 3125

The Don Mattera Poetic World of Words' is a celebration of Don Mattera’s legacy and poetic prowess, reimagined by some of his proteges and collaborators who are all paying tribute to his literary contribution to South Africa. The event will feature renowned poets and artist such as Lebo Mashile, Phillipe Yaa Devilliers, Pops Mohammed, Mac Manaka and a cohort of young aspiring poets from schools in Alexander, Eldorado Park and talented young violinist Tamryn Brown from Eldorado Park.

The daytime assembly will include a short film on Don Mattera’s life, a chapter from his seminal book Memory is a Weapon, with some of his older and newly published books on sale. The session will seek to deep dive into Don's poems and writings at various stages in his life from Sophiatown, to Western Native Township, to the new Westbury, to Eldorado Park, his travels around the world and on the African continent.

The session includes a reading from Vishnu Singh’s brand-new book Chaos – The Genesis of Darkness Series which is a radicle journey into the new genre of Spiritual Fantasy.

Free Entrance

Light Refreshments Included

A Latin Celebration at the famed Troyeville Rooftop celebrating the national day of Spain together with some great Spanish wine and popular crowd pleasers El Cantante (feat Cito from Wonderboom) playing a selection of Latin hits. Virtuoso Spanish flamenco guitarist Raul Rodriguez is joined in a collaboration with Sabu Jiyane (SA) as a special guest as well as vocalist Rey Chams, also from Spain

Hosted by Kerry-anne Allerston from The Hangout at Mix fm.

Tickets

Early bird online: BOOK HERE

R120 General Online/Door: R150

Info: 082 902 0767

A special showcase to feature the unique sound of Sun Xa Experiment, a musical outfit which is anchored in the principles of Afrofuturism.

Their Sound can be best understood as an experience, a journey and music from the heart of Soweto. This sound permeates to innate codes of spiritual cross sections of all human existence. The cultural collective was formed in 2014 to build a momentum around the exploration of kinetic and sonic spiritual Transcendence through the use of sound with their songs coming across as extended jams, which envoke spiritual connections that are informed by visions and invocations.

Sunday 13 October

Keleketla Library (6 Verwey St, Troyeville)

1pm - 4pm

Free Entrance

Masterclass: Mamadou Diabate

One of the finest exponents of the West African balafon in the world demonstrates how to integrate the rhythmic and tonal complexities in fusing African and Western music.

“Exploring New Territories” in conversation with industry experts from Latin America (Salym Fayad), Aoteroa (Zii Wacho) & Indonesia (Marintan Siriat) with the aim of showcasing South African talent in these vibrant territories – and vice versa!

Films: A selection of Colombian short films related to Afro-Colombian music from the Caribbean and Pacific coasts.