By Emma Olivier
Jazz Threads, a jazz ensemble of musicians from Stellenbosch University (SU), brightened up the afternoon of 19 March with joyful grooves during a free Lunch Hour Concert in the Fismer Hall at the SU Conservatory.
Led by Sibabalwe Gobe-Gysman on vocals and the flute, the band consisted of Melisizwe Plaatjie on the piano, Malibongwe “Pizzo” Magatyana playing the double and electric bass, Pascal Haas on the drums, Phillip Vermeulen on the electric guitar, Henco Bester on the tenor saxophone and Adhil Hoosen on the alto saxophone, with Laythan Booysen playing the trumpet, and Samuel Carelse on the trombone.
The band transported the audience through a vibrant world of music, sometimes intimate and poignant – as in their cover of “In Heaven” by Julius Rodriguez. Other times, the room was awakened from thoughtful reflection to grand, tumbling sounds and playful rhythms like “Armando’s Rumba”. A crowd favourite was the band’s rendition of Zoë Modiga’s “ABANTU”, with Gobe-Gysman afterwards adding to the song’s hopeful message, saying that, despite the struggles one might face, “things will turn around eventually”.
It was a high-quality, high-energy performance from Jazz Threads that had a smiling audience ready to take on the rest of their day with a renewed joie de vivre.
