Music was the perfect way to weave together the four sessions of inspiring talks at the TEDxCapeTown event on Saturday 16 April. Music sets the mood, connects people and creates emotion. Music is indeed an idea worth spreading...
The background track on Saturday morning at the start of the conference was none other than Mann Friday, a band I know well, and love. I was thrilled to hear that the someone in charge of the day's musical soundtrack clearly felt the same!
Three breaks between sessions saw three local bands bring their blends to the branded stage. First up was Hot Water (left), a Paul Simon sounding vocalist with an interesting selection of band member outfits and instruments. From lead singer Donovan's Caltex tin guitar to some circular black steel drum creations, Hot Water were fabulous. Now on their third album, concisely titled 'South', these guys are no strangers to overseas performances - and its no surprise. Tight, entertaining and distinctly African. Impressed I was!Lunchtime was a cacophony of curried veggies and rice to a myriad of sounds from the Nomadic Orchestra. Very enjoyable as background sound, though I was deep in conversation about social entrepreneurship with an American uni student who was in Cape Town on an exchange programme, interning in an NGO and adding to our country's advancement. Music to my ears! Melinda Griffiths, the music director for the day says that these guys were her best act so it was with frustration that I hadn't given half an ear to their show! I'm sure they'll be moving around these parts soon!
Then there were The Bone Collectors - a rather oddball and entertaining bunch dressed in black and white - with the tall dude playing on some uniquely devised instrument, an open metal chest to be exact. It worked wonderfully, an idea worth spreading indeed!
This makes me think back to Roland Albertson who performed at a beach clean up a few weeks back in Cape Town. Once rubbish had been collected, they created some shakers from the litter that had been picked up. And so the local kids could join in with his acoustic performance, along with a friend of Roland's who played a piece of pipe like a flute!
Ideas worth spreading - music can be made from anything!
A surprise guest during the day's TED-like talks on topics of inspirational or informative matter, was Ard Matthews who aptly played Just Jinjer's first hit, Shallow Waters. This was very much in line with the theme of TEDxCapeTown, of 'Be water my friend', a theme which was presented on literally and figuratively! Ard was delightful and endearing, and his second acoustic offering upped the already thought-provoking air of the day as he sang Redemption Song with its anthemic chorus 'Peace, hope, more tolerance...'Three gigs, and one special guest appearance all in one day! Wow, like a mini festival, but with so much more in the form of awesome talks on all sorts. Find out more, and watch some of the talks online at www.TEDxCapeTown.org
If only we could say that much like the human body, and the planet, being made up of 70% water - that our local radio stations were made up of 70% local music. Support local music! Music is life!
Rock on SA music flowing like water,
x
(Many thanks to Paul Ward for the photos!)
2 comments:
thanks for finding out who the bands were. i just found that the music was too loud though. didn't give enough space to actually talk about the talks. but good music. :)
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