THE embassy of Spain is putting together a jazz concert that will see Spanish duo Albert Bello and Oriol Saña as well as Erna Chimu perform in an effort to foster cultural exchanges between the two countries.
Taking place on 29 November at the Warehouse Theatre, the concert will be the first in a line-up of two concerts for the Spanish duo who will have another show at Casa del Mar, Walvis Bay, on 4 December.
No stranger to the Namibian jazz scene, Erna Chimu is a well-known Afro jazz and traditional singer whose second studio album ‘Hai Serute’ won her three awards at the 2014 Namibian Annual Music Awards.
She has performed at various occasions throughout Namibia and at the ‘Night of Festivals’ in Leicester, United Kingdom, in October 2015.
Chimu will be performing with her band, which consists of Sam Batola (guitarist), Jean Pierre Ntsika (bass guitarist), Gerson Doeseb (keyboard), Lebohang Mothabeng (drums), Manneckey Khoe-Aob (percussionist), Ermelinda Thataone (backing vocalist) and Onai Patricia Mutizwa (mbira).
Guitarist Bello combines being a teacher and performer, having participated in many music festivals, both nationally and internationally (including festivals in France, Greece, Portugal, Argentina and Brazil), and at the same time, offering many master classes. Since 2001, he has recorded over 15 albums as a solo artist or as part of a group.
He is the director and the main driving force behind the first manouche jazz (also known as gypsy jazz) festival in Spain, the Django L’H Festival (first held in 2010) and he was the founder, and is the current president, of the Association of Musicians and Fans of Manouche Jazz.
Violinist Saña, on the other hand, has a much experience in the classical music field, having participated in various symphonic orchestras, concert halls and at numerous music festivals in Europe and the USA.
In addition, his alternative music interests made him take part in a manouche jazz duo with Bello as well as in a bluegrass duo with Casey Driessen.
Furthermore, he has recorded more than 50 albums.
As a result of a whole string of coincidences, Bello and Saña first met on a stage over 10 years ago. During one of his concerts, Bello invited Saña to join him and they played ‘Nuages’ by Django Reinhardt. From that moment they grew together as musicians becoming one of the key bands performing manouche jazz Spain.
During their visit to Namibia the duo will present ‘Boston Bridges’, an album published in 2016 featuring six pieces by Bello and three other classic manouche jazz songs.
The first concert in Windhoek takes place at 19h00 (doors open at 18h00) while the Walvis Bay concert starts at 20h00 (doors open at 19h15).
Entry is free for both shows.
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