What’s on
Latest creations come to Midrand fashion week
South African Fashion Week is in full swing, having started on 18 April and set to wrap up on Saturday, 20 April, at the Mall of Africa in Midrand.
Over the course of three days, the event serves as a platform for established and emerging South African designers to exhibit their latest creations for the Spring/Summer 2024 season.
Some of the designers who will be showcasing at the Fashion Week are Thabo Makhetha, Jacques van der Watt of Black Coffee as well as Helen Gibbs. Attendees can expect a diverse array of styles, from the avant-garde to the timeless, as the
country’s fashion scene continues to evolve and captivate audiences worldwide.
With a keen focus on innovation and cultural expression, South African Fashion Week not only celebrates the country’s richly diverse heritage but also propels it onto the global stage, reaffirming its status as a burgeoning hub of creativity and style.
Deep House Narratives
South African Afrohouse DJ/producer duo, Khayelihle Ngcobo and Mpumelelo Sithole, known as Deep Narratives, have released their latest track, Wushi, featuring Naakmusiq.
Signed under Black Coffee’s Soulistic agency, the duo told the Mail & Guardian that the collaboration was unconventional.
Naakmusiq recorded vocals on a beat sent by Deep Narratives, which were later reversed, resulting in a mysterious outcome.
“Still to this day, we have no idea what Naak was saying when he laid those vocals. The song does not mean anything because the vocals were reversed but it sounded really good and interesting,” Sithole says.
Ngcobo nods and chimes in, highlighting the song’s intention
to spread joy and freedom.
He encourages listeners to interpret the song as they experience it.
The duo is set to make their European debut in Amsterdam on 26 April, marking a significant milestone for them.
They are excited to be part of the alumni of DJ’s who contribute to keeping South African music alive — even overseas.
Going back to jazz bass-ics in Durban
The Centre for Jazz and Popular Music at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) proudly presents the highly regarded bassist Lex Futshane on Wednesday, 24 April, at 5.30pm.
Futshane is an internationally proclaimed electric and acoustic bassist, prolific composer, arranger, performer and educator who spent many years in Durban performing, arranging music and lecturing in the music departments at the UKZN and DIT (Natal Technikon). He is a graduate of UKZN and lectures ensemble classes at Wits University in Johannesburg.
Futshane will be playing music from his album Innocent Victims and Perpetrators with hits such as Iculo and uBhuti noHopa.
“I came to UKZN to study music and stayed in Durban for 15 years, it is home,” he said.
Futshane on acoustic bass will be joined by Zola Futshane on vocals, Phumlani Mtiti on saxophone, Neil Gonsalves on piano and Sbu Ncube on drums.
The jazz programme at the University of Natal, Durban was established in 1983 by Professor Darius Brubeck, the first formal tertiary-level jazz programme on the African continent. The university’s Centre for Jazz was established in 1989.