Type of tour: package including activities and accommodation
Duration: 7 nights and 8 days
Rate: from USD 3600 pp including accommodation
7 night African Jazz Programme in Cape Town, South Africa in 4* hotel
HIGHLIGHTS
- 4 star accommodation in Cape Town
- The Cape Town International Jazz Festival
- Specialist Festival host to help you get the best out of the fest
- Meet local jazz musicians in their homes for private concerts
- Discover Cape Town’s goema music, the foundation of Cape Jazz
- Dig deep into South African jazz vinyl classics with a local DJ
- Enjoy a diversity of Cape Town food and wine
INCLUSIONS
- 7 nights 4 star hotel accommodation
- Weekend pass tickets to the Jazz Festival
- Festival specialist host
- Breakfast
- 4 lunches, 3 dinners
- Specialist tours daily
- Wine tastings
- Airport transfers
- Private guide and vehicle across all activities
This seven day immersion in Cape Town is especially for music lovers!
Built around the world famous Cape Town International Jazz Festival, our Roots and Routes in South African and Cape Jazz immerses visitors in Cape Town
Day1. Arrivals, check in, welcome dinner
You are collected at the airport and transferred to your hotel. You have the rest of the day at leisure. At 19h00 you are collected for a welcome dinner.
Day2. Part1. Jazz and the Mother City
Before getting into the music, we explore the historic city on foot, getting a perspective on the history of the place, the influences and forces that shaped the city and some of the ancient sounds. We’ll meet an indigenous musician and storyteller in the city centre and learn about the earliest people and their language and sounds, all factors that influenced our jazz. We’ll learn about slavery, colonial rule, about the minstrel carnival and about apartheid. Music will be the thread that holds this exploration together. We’ll enjoy a musical lunch in the Bokaap.
And then in the afternoon we start our deep dive into the music. How did jazz get to South Africa in the first place? What shaped it’s sound and aesthetic? We explore the influence of the port, vinyl coming in the port from the USA, and music coming over the radio. In an introductory listening session at the home of a local DJ, we are introduced to artists like Dollar Brand and Hugh Masekela and Sathima Benjamin, with some wine and cheese and craft beer…
In the evening, we’ll take in jazz in a venue in the city.
Day3. Part2. Jazz and its Goema roots
The sounds of the indigenous people, the sounds of the carnival that emerged during slavery, these are the sounds of goema music, the indigenous music of the city, and goema is at the heart of Cape Jazz, and the music of international stars like Abdullah Ibrahim, and younger stars such as Mac /McKenzie and Hilton Schilder and Mark Fransman, for example. This morning we bring in a music historian to talk about goema and its history and influence on our jazz music. Valmont Layne, a musician, activist and the first academic to focus a pHD specifically on goema music, shares with us, through music and conversation, the history of goema in the city and compelling ideas about goema and time travel!
Then we journey to the home of a well known jazz musician to hear the influence of goema in his music, over a home-cooked traditional Cape Meal.
The afternoon is dedicated to sightseeing. The plan is to head up Table Mountain and get an aerial perspective over the city, mapping its social, political, cultural and music histories.
And in the evening, for dinner, we visit another musician with a different approach to jazz, with big goema influences. But just before heading out, we’ll enjoy a bit of the annual Free Concert on Greenmarket Square.
Day4. Part3. Jazz and its township roots
As we will learn from the first day of the programme, forced removals from the historic centre to the townships had a massive impact on the shape of the city. Today we focus our attention on the ways in which townships, in turn, shaped our jazz. Our morning presenter is Koko Kolashe of the Jazz in the Native Yards initiative, who takes us on a journey through township jazz and the musicians who embody it. This session is enjoyed at Koko’s KwaSec venue in Guguletu.
Then we’ll visit the home of a township based musician for a lunchtime concert and conversation.
The afternoon is open for sightseeing again.
The evening is free, as the next two nights will be at the Jazz Festival.
Day5. Part4. Jazz and the youth PLUS Jazz Festival
Tonight is the first night of the Jazz Festival, and ahead of that we turn our attention to young people and jazz. We will visit a music school to explore how young jazz musicians are being shaped and developed, and enjoy a short performance. Then we will enjoy artisan ice cream produced in Mitchells Plain by Iehsaan Small of Ice Cream Vanni Kaap, hear about his very new ice cream business and how it is influencing Mitchells Plain, and enjoy a performance by local jazz young people from the area. Ice Cream and Jazz! Then we head back to the city and enjoy lunch in a local eatery, with a briefing ahead of the first night of the Jazz Fest – recommended concerts to watch, how to navigate the festival etc
Then back to the hotel to rest a little before we head to the Festival with our festival specialist.
Evening at the Cape Town International Jazz Festival
Day6. Part5. Morning Markets and evening Jazz Festival
After a very leisurely start to the day, we head out to enjoy one of the local Saturday markets. We have some time to rest at the hotel before heading to the Jazz Festival in the late afternoon. Enjoy the concerts and the afterparty.
Day7. The Colour of Wine Safari
Another leisurely start after an intense Saturday night at the Jazz Festival. We’ll start around 11h00 with an exploration of Cape Wines. We start around the city with a tasting of Magna Carta natural wines, hosted by winemaker Mphumi Ndlangisa. Then we head to the Winelands for a farm to fork lunch at a wine estate and a tasting of their wines. If time allows we’ll have one mor tasting before heading back to the hotel.
The evening is free.
Day8. Fly home or depart for Add on Safari experience
Cape Heritage Hotel 
