Cape music picks: January 6 2012

It’s tough being a creative jazz musician working a circuit where venues prioritise entertainment over art.

Put bluntly, it’s often difficult to get audiences to listen to your music when they prefer smooth
supper-club jazz sedation or are primed to get pissed.

It’s difficult, but not impossible. It begins with creating a space for those artists who bypass sales tags such as “commercial”, “avant-garde” and “in” and “out” to express themselves. The brainchild of the Silent Revolution Productions’ team (drummer Kesivan Naidoo, trumpeter Lee Thomson and jazz enthusiast Lawson Naidoo), the Mahogany Room is modelled on the intimate listening experience of legendary jazz hot spots like the Village Vanguard, Smalls and Ronnie Scotts. The Dirty Trio (pianist Bokani Dyer, Naidoo and bassist Shane Cooper) present an original South African jazz ­showcase with special guests this weekend.

Mahogany Room, 79 ­Buitenkant Street, Cape Town, on January 6 and 7 at 7pm. Entrance is R50. Booking is essential. Tel: 076 679 2697 to book.

■ A day at the horse races might not usually feature high on Cape Town’s cultural calendar but this year’s L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate looks to challenge that. Sidestepping the ­historic colonial association of a race that was first held to honour Queen Victoria in 1861, the organisers have assembled three of the hippest, most credible music acts igniting Mzansi’s urban stages to see out the day. Leading the charge are Tumi and the Volume. Adding sparks to Tumi’s fire will be Afro-futurist Spoek Mathambo and South African-born, London-bred rock prodigies the Kongos.

Style Lounge, Kenilworth Race Course, Rosmead Avenue, ­Kenilworth, on ­January 7. Gates open at 11am and the music starts at 6pm. Entrance is R250 to R800. Dress code: strictly blue and white.