Sunday, 30 August 2026

Bassist and singer-songwriter Ostebza said learning bass amplified her voice, confidence and willingness to speak up, after more than two decades across genres and session work.

Ostebza will lead a four-bass women’s project with Chantelle Willie Peterson, Rochelle Ruttenbach and Orlanda da Conceição at the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz on 25 and 26 September.

Ostebza said women still face pressure to be “good girls” in the music industry, but she chooses authenticity over presenting herself according to what the market demands.

Listeners voted between Sergio Mendes’s older take and Mark Murphy’s 2004 version of Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Waters of March”, with responses split between both interpretations.