Sunday, 13 September 2026

“Mr Daker Sang the Blues” runs at Johannesburg’s Market Theatre until 4 October, examining an artist’s death, grief and mental-health pressures in the creative community.

Tembingo Mavimbella’s album “Later Bloom” places double bass at the centre of nine contemporary South African jazz compositions balancing tradition with experimental ensemble interplay.

Bill Evans’ “Flamenco Sketches”, co-composed with Miles Davis for 1959’s “Kind of Blue”, was highlighted as a landmark modal-jazz performance built around five scales.

Orchestra Baobab’s “Utras Horas”, recorded in Senegal in 1982, combines African melodies, Cuban rhythms, Wolof influences and interlocking guitar-saxophone lines.

Mercedes Sosa’s “Gracias a la Vida”, from “La Historia del Folklore”, closed the programme with a song of gratitude and reassurance.