Smoke Lawrence ,Nicky Blumenfeld and Dean Halloway
As the step into spring has blossomed, the scent of pollen outside calls for newer, brighter, and better beginnings especially that of the diaspora and the African spirited realm. What better way to usher it in than with the drizzle of blues a courtesy extended by the Motherland International Blues and Jazz Festival.
For the first time in history, the catalytic genre of the blues is set to be in Soweto on 27 October 2024.Pioneered and championed by the King of the Blues and guitar maestro and visionary, Smoke Lawrence and his young, pragmatic and fervent collective team.
Here audiences will pack their tears away and feast on the living institute’s vision. Naledi Hall is set to reverberate and permeate a fertile ground for the blues to seep into our hearts, minds and feet. What is notable is that this year’s instalment of the festivities will be brighter and create no room for inertia and lethargy, notes Lawrence. While festival director and co founder Dean Halloway ascertains that the movement is beyond the music, it is a festival that gives back to its communal surrounding from a space of healing and confronting unpopular conversations head on.
As the team sums it up, Lebo and Jeff Mofokeng epitomize it with the thread #nobluesmangoeshungry, and the intention is to bring a memorable experience and resounding festivity to the masses. The line up is a motley of African blues bands including the Williams Brothers and Nkosanza, a gem coated with a dulcet voice, including Smoke Lawrence and numerous blues bands.
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This is certainly an annual celebration not to be missed. It is a new chapter to be written in the undocumented history of the African Blues.
