Standard Joy of Jazz shifted
The annual Standard Bank Joy of Jazz convert has been shifted to November following renovations the conventional venue is set to undergo for slightly over two months.
Traditionally, the Joy of Jazz concert has been held in the month of September and at the Bingu International Conference Centre. However, the contract of the temporary operator of the venue, Sunbird Malawi Limited expires in September and the first step by new operators, Peermont South Africa, is to renovate the facility.
This renovations have forced Standard Bank to push the event forward.
“Traditionally when we rolled out Joy of Jazz, we thought that September would be the month for the concert so that people are used and plan accordingly. We did the same this year, unfortunately, the problem in the country is infrastructure and the only venue that is built to international standards is the BICC where we have held the previous shows,” said Standard Bank’s head of marketing Chimwemwe Matonga.
He said the existing venues do not match the standards of the concert.
“The available options meant us doing the event outdoor and looking at the nature of the concert which is very particular in terms of audience, we have decided to shift the date to what is suitable to us, the public and Peermont. We have settled for November 29,” added Matonga.
This year, Lawi is the Joy of Jazz Malawi act with the international performer to be confirmed next week.
Explained Matonga: “Lawi is so far confirmed. And once the contract has been signed by next week, we will announce the name, but for now, the artist will come from South Africa. Of course we were looking at the possibility of having about four musicians including Jimmy Dlulu, Lira, Zonke and Lady Smith Black Mambazo. But all these are booked on all Saturdays up to the end of the year. With us we want the artists to be here for three days so as to conduct other activities like corporate social responsibility.”
The concert will this year rebrand to have a Malawi touch as Joy of Jazz is synonymous with South Africa, where it is a actually a four days festival.
