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Goethe Library Jams

The Goethe-Institut’s Goethe Library Jams returns in December 2023 – this time with a three-episode weekend event featuring Kujenga, Vivacious Voices under the tutelage of Yonela Mnana and The Brother Moves On.

For this special edition of what the German institute calls “Tiny Desk Concerts but in a Joburg library”, a two-day celebration will host three collectives of some of South Africa’s most gifted artist in front of a select audience.

On 2 December 2023, The Brother Moves On celebrates a decade of its first full-length album, A New Myth. Released on 4 December 2013, a day before former president Nelson Mandela’s death (“there are no coincidences, says band leader Siyabonga Mthembu), the album was described as having “prophetic resonance” by the Mail & Guardian in its call for a “reactivated reality”.

The Market Photo Workshop Courtyard will play host to the avant-garde collective for the special 16th episode of the Goethe Library Jams to celebrate its album’s 10th anniversary. The group will play six tracks from A New Myth arranged by members of the The Brother Moves On

Internationally acclaimed South African artist Nolan Oswald Dennis reunites with The Brother Moves on for the special performance. Oswald Dennis designed A New Myth’s album cover and will collaborate with BJ Engelbrecht a long time collaborator and founding member of The Brother Moves On.

Episodes 14 and 15 will be performed and recorded as per the series’ usual format on Saturday, 1st December 2023 at the Market Photo Workshop Library. These episodes will performed in front of a 30-person audience of Market Photo Workshop and will be stripped down in amplification and will showcase the band as never seen before.

Featuring Kujenga, a seven-piece Cape Town jazz band dubbed as “Cape Town’s answer to the vibrant Johannesburg jazz scene” by those in the know and Vivacious Voices, a choir under the tutelage of pianist and musical maestro Yonela Mnana. The 1st of December 2023 promises to be an out of the ordinary experience for 60 lucky audience members.

Buy tickets to The Goethe Library Jams on Webtickets or any affiliated distributor or at The Market Theatre box office.

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The Goethe Library Jam  

Episode: 14 – Kujenga at Johannesburg Market Photo Workshop Library

Episode 15 –  Vivacious Voices lead by Yonela Mnana at Market Photo Workshop Library

Episode 16 – The Brother Moves On presents “A New Myth, Ten Years Later” ft Kujenga, Yonela Mnana ft Vivacious Voices at the Market Photo Workshop Square

Performance/recording dates:

1st December 2023 (Friday) – Episode 14 & 15

2nd  December 2023 (Saturday) – Episode 16

Dramaturge and director: Thantaswa May

Production manager: Deshnee Subramany

Costume and set design: No Budget Productions

Animation: Nolan Oswald Dennis

Dancers/performance artists: Windybrow Dancers

 

 

Featured Musical Artists

Kujenga

“Hymn for Hani” by Kujenga

A seven-piece Cape Town jazz band has been making waves in the country as Cape Town’s answer to the vibrant Johannesburg scene. Featuring a three-piece horn section, the band would bolster The Brother Moves On two piece horn section to form a five-piece horn section directed by Mthunzi Mvubu.

Yonela Mnana

Yonela Mnana – House on the Hill Concert

Yonela Mnana is a South African blind jazz scholar, a recording singer and jazz pianist who also teaches and composes. His Catholic School tuition coupled with the Sepedi and home town IsiXhosa musical background seep through his jazz inspired compositions effortlessly. His high school choral experience was later crystallised by his classical and jazz lectures at Wits University where he completed junior and masters degrees (B.Mus and M.Mus) with distinction.

Vivacious Voices lead by Yonela Manana

Vivacious Voices Facebook Page

Vivacious Voices is a music education programme in Katlehong that has borne fruit in the form of a n eight-piece choir (four men and four women) under the tutelage of pianist and musical maestro Yonela Manana. The choir recently performed with The Brother Moves On as part of Mandla Mlangeni’s “Oratoria of A Forgotten Youth” which featured Lesego Rampolokeng.

Featured Performance Artists

Nolan Oswald Dennis

Nolan Dennis Goodman Gallery Artist Page

Nolan Oswald Dennis (b. 1988, Zambia) is a para-disciplinary artist from Johannesburg, South Africa. Their practice explores what they call “a black consciousness of space”: the material and metaphysical conditions of decolonization. Dennis’s work questions the politics of space (and time) through a system-specific, rather than site-specific approach. They are concerned with the hidden structures that pre-determine the limits of our social and political imagination.

In collaboration with The Brother Moves On Dennis draws on a white sheet with a black marker while video of iconic South African moments is projected on his white suit and canvas. These moments range from Josiah Tongwane winning the Olympic marathon to the release of Nelson Mandela. The artifact of the performance is always rendered as a utility piece which will be used by the dancers and performance artists and therefore destroyed. Nolan Dennis designed the original cover to “A New Myth”.

No Budget Productions

“Rainbow Child” by The Brother Moves On shot by No Budget Productions

“Babalaas” by The Brother Moves On shot by No Budget Productions

No Budget Productions consists of the late founder Nkululeko Mthembu and BJ Engelbrecht –  early performance artists and music video directors for The Brother Moves On. The Sunday performance will showcase a giant stage mimicking the Rainbow Child video television with recreations of The Brother Moves On’s Bagman, Boxman and Tapeman characters. The duo’s ethos of making with what you have created the early aesthetic of The Brother Moves On. 

Discovr TV

Discovr TV website

Discovr TV is a dynamic and innovative live streaming and video production company dedicated to helping individuals, businesses, and organisations deliver engaging and captivating content to a global audience. With cutting-edge technology, creative expertise, and unwavering commitment to excellence, DiscovrTV are the go-to partner for live streaming and video production support.

DiscovrTV Productions was created in 2019 by Julian von Plato and Thabo Rametsi with the objective of building an African video production and distribution service

Their clients include Black Coffee, Kunye, RiSA, Nova Nordisk, Jägermeister, Jonnie Walker, Heineken, City of Joburg, Arts Alive, Basadi, FNB, Nedbank, Rand Merchant Bank, Bosch Rexroth,  Vodacom, MTN, Boston Scientific, Bassline Events, Netflix, Amazulu and more.