Miles Keylock
0932, 79 Main Road, Green Point. On Sunday May 5 enjoy the stylish jazz moods of guitar guru Alvin Dyers and trio showcasing tunes from his debut album, Wesley Street. The music is always hot, the food is good and there is no cover charge, just good vibes. Shows start at about 7pm, so there’s no excuse not to pop into this fun and funky Belgian restaurant after a day chilling at home. Bookings:Tel: 434 6306.
Bascule, Cape Grace, West Quay, V&A Waterfront. Every Wednesday and Friday evening sip sundowners and chill out on the water’s edge at this trendy whisky bar and wine cellar. Unwind to the laid-back sounds of deep-house funk and lounge music in a relaxed ambient atmosphere while overlooking the international yacht marina. DJ Rene Tanguy provides the down-tempo mix of world-music rhythms from 6pm to 11pm. E-mail: bascule@capegrace. com. Tel: 410 7100.
Baseline, 74 Long Street, Cape Town. On Friday May 3 from 11pm DJs MoJoe, Dave, Odwa, Leighton and Gavin Street spin a selection of deep-house grooves. Admission is R20 before midnight, R30 thereafter.
Beat Boutique, Church Street, Heritage Square, Cape Town. Friday May 3 hosts the return of the innovative Countdown clubbing events with Countdown 2: Re-Entry. Cosmonauts on deck include DJs Shayne Space-Manne, Peter A-Stronaut, Phat Jack, Max ”Warp Drive” Rippa and Sean the Spaceprawn. Admission is free before 11pm, R10 until midnight, R20 until 1am, R30 thereafter. So, the earlier you pitch, the less you pay. On Saturday May 4 catch Sound Federation, a new live project featuring local legend DJ Gavin Fitchie and hot new vocalist Vanessa Nolan taking you on an uplifting spiritual journey with angelic voices and driving house. Support from Tobie Allen and Dan Dare. Shayne Manne, Peter A and Max Rippa feature at Upfront: The Sunrise Sessions, which kicks off every Sunday morning at 2am and finishes way into the wee hours of the morning. Admission is R30 before 12.30am and R40 thereafter (includes free entry to Upfront: The Sunrise Sessions).
Buena Vista Social Caf, Main Road, Green Point. On Mondays from 9pm to 11pm James Scholfield (guitar), Russ Nerwich (sax) and Gavin Minter (percussion) play laid-back Latin-jazz grooves. Admission is free.
CD Wherehouse, V&A Waterfront. Saturday May 5 hosts the Barleycorn Showcase with top-notch acoustic musos Bill Knight, Wayne Pauli, and Dave Nissen performing in-store from 2pm. Upcoming in-store appearances include Robin Auld. Entrance is free. More information: Tel: 425 6307/082 346 7176.
The Curve, at The Bijou, 178 Lower Main Road, Observatory. Jack Gorton and Justin Slack continue their Thursday residency on April 25. Expect all shades of deep and tech house. The music starts at 9pm and admission is R15. More information: [email protected].
District 206, De Villiers Road, Cape Town. On Saturday May 4 DJs Foam, Honey B and Charlie Brown do their Saturday-night thing on the decks. Doors open at 10pm.
Endler Hall, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch. On June 7 veteran South African composer Hubert du Plessis turns 80. To celebrate his contribution to music the Committee for Contemporary Music is hosting two concerts during May. The first concert takes place on Sunday May 5 from 4.30pm. The programme comprises four song cycles, Vreemde Liefde, Three Sonnets, Five Invocations for Tenor and Die Vrou. The featured artists are Isabel van Zyl (mezzo soprano), Marianne Serfontein (soprano), Andr Serfontein (tenor) and Andr Howard (baritone), and the accompanist on piano is Hendrik Hofmeyr. Tickets at the door. These concerts are presented in collaboration with the Southern Africa Music Rights Organisation.
Getafix, 32 Glynn Street, Cape Town (upstairs from Drum Caf). Saturday May 4 hosts Organic Fusion, featuring 2 DJs battling it out back-to-back on the decks, stir-frying your brain up and down the celestial stairway by playing some of the hardest Israeli and European psy-trance known to man. Psy-pilots include TRe’Y (Getafix), Christiaan (Psy-encefiction), Morph (Wonderland Project) vs Alex (Altered States), Stomps (Psycad) vs Wobble (Alien Safari) and Jean-Zen (Psycad) vs Dave Mac (Alien Safari). Admission is R25 before 11pm, R30 thereafter. Pre-booking costs only R15. Tel: 083 367 3461.
Green Dolphin, V&A Waterfront. On Friday May 3 and Saturday May 4 catch the Henry February Trio featuring Zelda Benjamin on vocals, with Maurice Gawronsky on drums and Basil Moses on double bass. Sunday May 5 features pianist and composer Mark Fransman and his trio. The Ryan Grogan Trio perform on Monday May 6. On Tuesday May 7 the Alvin Dyers Trio premier songs from their new album, Wesley Street. Wednesday May 8 showcases standards with a slice of Latin from 4×4 featuring Nol Klinkamer on piano, Miso Makovino on saxophones, Kevin Gibson on drums and Dave Ridgeway on bass. Awesome tenor stylist Ezra Ncgkana and quartet play African jazz on Thursday May 9. This restaurant venue has great food and a superb dinner-jazz ambience. Tel: 421 7471.
Hidden Cellar, Dorp Street (entrance through De Akker), Stellenbosch. On Friday May 3 join Alta Joubert for the launch of her first CD, Malta Bella. Expect an evening of original alternative Afrikaans, from blues to rock.
Independent Armchair Theatre, Lower Main Road, Observatory. On Friday May 3 popular acoustic rocker Simon van Gend is joined by multi-instrumentalist Ben Amato and bassist Eric Michot for their regular first-Friday-of-the-month slot. Expect soaring melodies, soulful lyrics and stirring harmonies. Show starts at 10pm, but come early for an armchair. Admission is R20. Website: www.24clicks.com/simon. Popular boy jazz band Breakfast Included return for their Thursday residency on May 9. Expect an entirely new set of originals and reworked standards unheard by the public, combining a fresh approach in style and performance. They are joined each week by guest artists, varying from top jazz vocalists to percussionists, guitarists and DJs. Starts at 9.30pm. Entrance is R20.
The Jam, 43 De Villiers Road, District Six, Cape Town. It’s Homegrown time again on Friday May 3 featuring South African drum’n’bass by Counter Strike (Animal Chin and 500 Mills) and Australian and New Zealand drum’n’bass played on vinyl by Trouble, A33 and special guests. Starts at 10pm. Admission is R20 before 11pm, R30 thereafter. The fantastically sensational Boo! perform one last gig at The Jam on Saturday May 4 to launch their new album, Shooting Star, before they head off overseas for a European tour. E-mail: [email protected]. Tel: 465 2106.
Jo’burg, Long Street, Cape Town. Jazz outfit JAK, featuring James Scholfield (guitar), Andrew Lilley (Hammond organ), Kevin Gibson (drums) and guest vocalist Natascha Roth, play every Saturday from 1.30pm.
Kennedy’s Cigar Bar, Long Street, Cape Town. All-boy jazz outfit Breakfast Included perform on Wednesday May 8 from 9.30pm to 1am. Admission is R10.
The Lounge, 194 Long Street, Cape Town. Wednesdays host Cause’n’Effects, a popular drum’n’bass night hosted by DJ Trouble with weekly guests in rotation. On Fridays don’t miss the only free weekly hip-hop session in Cape Town with legendary selectas Hamma, Reiko and guests. E-mail: [email protected].
Marvel, Long Street, Cape Town. Every Monday Jack Gorton and Justin Slack play laid-back beats and deep house. Expect anything from the latest jazzy white labels to familiar classics. Doors open at eight and entry is free. E-mail: [email protected].
More, 74 Loop Street, Cape Town. On Friday May 3 from 10.30pm, fresh from his appointment in London, Ryan ”The Dentist”Dent jets in to battle Jody K for the title of Spy Master. Be warned, the Dentist is on top form armed with an arsenal of the latest beats from London, and (as usual) extremely amped to play the freshest vinyl in his home town. Not be outdone by the Dentist, Jody K is planning to bring out all his special stockpile of intercontinental ballistic house from the Loop Music shelves. Erefaan Pierce warms up the dance floor. Admission is R40. Loop Music provides residents on the first Saturday of every month. DJs Jody K (Spy vs Spy), Deeply Serious (Loopmusic), Tony Montana and Cassiem mix it up on Saturday May 4. Entrance is R40 all night.
Olympia Bakery, Main Road, Kalk Bay. On Friday May 3 and Saturday May 4 catch the vocal exploits of Heather Mac, Chris Tokalon and Mark Harris at this intimate 40-seater theatre in a bakery. Heather Mac (Ellamental and the Tasty Free Radicals), known for her distinctive spirited singing, is making a rare appearance. Chris Tokalon, sound healer and multi-instrumentalist, also known as ”the Marvellous Mouth” will be remembered for his mouth music while touring with Steve Newman and Tony Cox doing ”Don’t tune us. We’ll tune you!” The trio will provide a musical mlange showcasing various uses for the human voice, accompanied by instruments played by Tokalon and Mac and Harris (Tasty Free Radicals, Cool Bananas). Starts at 9pm. Bookings: Tel: (021) 782 8159/ 083 788 3249.
Opera, Artscape Theatre Complex, Foreshore. Eric Gerber, the brilliant young pianist who has already performed as a soloist with several South African orchestras, is the featured soloist in the final performance of the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra Sunday-night series on Sunday May 5. Gerber performs the fist movement of the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No 1 and Chris Dowdeswell takes the orchestra through the popular Eine Kleine Nachtmusik by Mozart, the Rosamunde Overture by Schubert, Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake and Rumanian Rhapsody by Enesco. Pieter Daniel, one of South Africa’s greatest violinist exports, returns to Cape Town to conduct and perform with the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra. On Thursday May 9 he performs two pieces by Mozart the lyrical Adagio for Violin in E K261 and the Violin Concerto No 5 K219, a work considered by many to be unrivalled throughout the second half of the 18th century. The orchestra also performs the ebullient overture to the Marriage of Figaro by Mozart and the richly melodious Symphony No 3 in F by Brahms. Starts at 8pm. Tickets are available at Computicket and at the door, where concessions will be available from 7.30pm. Tel: 410 9809.
Rhodes House, 60 Queen Victoria Street, Cape Town. Archers Aqua in association with the Concept Factory and Young Designers Emporium present Bliss on Friday May 3. Expect progressive house across three dance floors, an open-air courtyard and immaculate stylish toilets. There’s also R&B in the lounge, with deep and funky beats in the Red Room, and if you are into the Renaissance/Global Underground style of music, progressive house on the main floor. Featured DJs include residents Raymond and Paul, Suga, Erefaan, Tony Montana and, as always, special guests. Starts at 10pm. Admission is R40. E-mail: [email protected].
Sky, 27 Somerset Road (entrance in Napier Road), Green Point, Cape Town. On Friday May 3 RDA presents the next instalment of their hard- and uplifting-house evening series, the DJ Convention Party. DJs John, Donzai, Jason 47, Ash, Richard Carter, Adrian B, Basil and Brent Thought spin their top tunes. Admission is R20 with women getting in free before midnight. Doors open at 11pm. E-mail: [email protected]. Tel: 082 662 5803.
Taboo, Main Road, Claremont. Every Wednesday night brings the freshest house for your midweek flava with Dirty South. Travelling from the funk to the tech, packing in the finest vinyl they can carry, hip-to-the-house DJs Ryan Dent, Shayne Manne and Craig de Sousa get the party started on Wednesday May 8. The first 100 women get free entry. Complimentary drinks are served on arrival before midnight. There will also be CD giveaways on the night. Admission is R20. Tel: 683 5651.
Whammy Bar, Marine Circle, Tableview. On Friday May 3 catch Flowerheads and Blemish. Saturday May 4 is Boston Lager night with Hog Hoggidy Hog and the Vendellas, as well as drinks specials all night long. Starts at 10pm. Tel: 557 5692.
Gig of the week
Chris Chameleon of Boo!, who perform a gig at The Jam on Saturday May 4 before embarking on another of their European tours. Photograph:Nadine Hutton