REVIEW: Despite some hiccups, Jazz under the Lights was electrifying

JOHANNESBURG - The Jazz In the Lights Music Festival at the Johannesburg Zoo managed to deliver a harmonious blend of music and nature for revellers, albeit with some disappointing technical sound issues.

The event, which took place on Saturday, has become the go-to event for jazz enthusiasts looking to unwind and reconnect after the pandemic's disruptions.

The city's choice to host the festival at the zoo was a curious one, though. The location, while picturesque, comes with a unique challenge - managing the sound levels to accommodate the animals. This inevitably affects the full auditory experience, and the sound sometimes feels restrained.

While the performances themselves were compelling, the sound quality left much to be desired. At times, the balance was off, some instruments were overpowering, while others were barely audible, causing a distorted experience, even with performances we looked forward to, such as iPhupho L'la Biko - known for their strong street jazz presence.

Despite their absence in previous years, the group's inclusion this time around, albeit announced late, was a welcome addition. They electrified the crowd, delivering captivating solos by their saxophonists and powerful vocals from Koketso Poho.

Poho's opening performance with a church hymn, “Akekho ofana naye”, was a transcendent moment, with the audience swept away by the spirit of the music.

Following this, iPhupho performed the iconic "Igwijo" protest song, which has become an important part of their identity. The band's fusion of church music and political protest provided a thought-provoking performance, communicating their ideological stance with powerful clarity. The blending of diverse rhythms, instruments, and vocal styles resonates deeply within the community

But the group brought "Smanga” to control the sound, and theirs was comparably better as it provided so much improvement.

Iphupho was followed by Amanda Black, whose career has been beautiful in the South African music scene. She opened the performance with “Undibona Ndityebile”; it was truly underwhelming, in my opinion. It was unclear if the poor sound was also to be blamed. She performed almost all her popular songs, but it was not as exciting as she usually is.

After Amanda, it was Thandiswa Mazwai who opened with her multi-layered song, "Nizalwa Ngobani", a song for resilience, that reminds us that the struggle for freedom continues.

You can always feel an activist singer like Thandiswa, how passionate she is about the attainment of social justice as she preaches continued activism and resistance. The sound truly failed her, she was a headliner but who had to stop for a moment and ask for the microphones to be fixed as she could not hear her back-up singers.

Another lingering issue has always been why communities have often been priced out of concerts and music shows, particularly given the history of jazz music in the country coming out of the townships.

When do we take these shows to the people? They seem to have become only for people of a particular socioeconomic status.

Nevertheless, there is no denying the fact that Jazz in South Africa remains a powerful medium for expressing freedom and creativity. It transcends boundaries of age, gender, and ethnicity, uniting the diverse nature of our cultures and communities under a shared love for music.

Nkanyiso Ngqulunga a Legal Researcher working as Analyst and does culture reviews