CAPE TOWN BIG BAND JAZZ FESTIVAL
Celebrating Big Band Jazz, Inspiring Young Musicians, Supporting Our Community.
The Cape Town Big Band Jazz Festival started in 1999 as a fundraising event for a community project. Five big bands performed that evening, and the event was a great success.
Since then CTBBJ Festival has grown to a four-night Festival showcasing 24 big bands from schools, colleges, universities and the local community as well as introducing national and international professional musicians. These musicians perform with the Alumni Big Band as well as undertaking various music workshops at schools.
The monies raised from the Festival are utilised for various initiatives, especially in disadvantaged communities. At present the Festival is supporting numerous schools in their endeavours to provide its learners, by and large consisting of youth at risk, with music education.
In collaboration with South African College of Music
Project Features
Marimba Project
Woodworx Marimbas is an African Marimba Company, specialising in African Marimba tuition as well as marimba and mallet manufacturing and maintenance. We also perform as a professional marimba band, performing at weddings, parties/social gatherings and corporate events. We’ve also had the opportunity of performing for a number of celebrities like the late Nelson Mandela, Mariah Carry, Snow Patrol, Cuba Gooding Jnr, Madcon, Demi-Leigh Tebow and Barack Obama to name a few.
We’ve provided marimba tuition since 2009 and teach at schools ranging in area from Constantia to Parklands. Amongst other school performances and Eisteddfods we host an annual marimba festival at the esteemed Baxter Theatre, whereby some of our top school bands get the opportunity to perform – a feat that many marimba players can only dream of.
Steelband Project
Although there had been a few attempts at having a Cape Town Steelband Festival in previous years, the event only really found its feet in 2011 when Ann Barr of the Cape Town Big Band Jazz Festival asked the Steelband Project (Western Cape) to help launch the first properly staged Festival, to be held at the Baxter Theatre in Rondebosch.
Since then the Cape Town Steelband Festival has become a main event on the South African steelband calendar, attracting bands and steelpan educators from different parts of South Africa and even from Trindad, Australia and the UK. It has also given many steelpan players from marginalized urban and rural communities the opportunity to perform on a real stage in an internationally known theatre. For some it has been their first experience of the city, but for all performers it has provided them with a memory to cherish for a lifetime. An important benefit of this annual event is all the various relationships have developed and been nurtured over the years between the steelbands, their individual members and the band leaders and teachers
Highlights have been the regular participation of our vibrant steelband family friends from the Eastern Cape, endorsements from 2 Trinidad & Tobago High Commissioners and Dave Reynold’s beautiful compositions and arrangements for massed steelbands.
Heartfelt thanks must go to Ann Barr and the Baxter Theatre for providing such a wonderful performance platform to so many young people over so many years.
WHERE IT ALL HAPPENS
All events happening at the Baxter Concert Hall, Baxter Theatre Complex, Rondebosch, Cape Town.
From Humble Beginnings to a Four-Night Extravaganza
Since then CTBBJ Festival has grown to a four-night Festival showcasing 24 big bands from schools, colleges, universities and the local community as well as introducing national and international professional musicians. These musicians perform with the Alumni Big Band as well as undertaking various music workshops at schools.
