John Edwin Mason: Documentary, Motorsports, Photo History

Sarah Stacke: Love from Manenberg

I can't remember when I first saw photos from Sarah Stacke's on-going project, "Love from Manenberg," but I know that I responded immediately to their intimacy and beauty. I also liked the people and the setting. Manenberg is an impoverished suburb of Cape Town, South Africa, a city that has... Read more →

A Night in Zurich, A Morning in Paris: Sathima Benjamin and Duke Ellington, 1963

In 1963, Duke Ellington changed the lives of two young South Africans forever. One of them was the composer/pianist Abdullah Ibrahim, then known as Dollar Brand. The story of Duke’s discovery of this great talent in a Zurich, Switzerland, nightclub, the recording session that he produced in Paris, and the... Read more →

Like Going Home: The Swingers Jam Sessions, Cape Town, South Africa

I've sung the praises of the Monday night jam sessions at Swingers many times in the past (for instance, here), and I'm not going to miss the chance to do it again. By now, the sessions are a venerable institution. When I first visited, about ten years ago, they were... Read more →

Cape Town & Goema: The Sound of the City

Cape Town is lucky in all sorts of ways. (It's also deeply troubled, but that's a topic for another post.) The city nestles between Table Mountain and the sea in one of the most spectacular natural settings in the world. The people are wonderful, the food is amazing, and it... Read more →

Funky Friday with Mac McKenzie and the Cape Town Goema Orchestra

What to do in Cape Town on the next two Saturday nights? Take yourself over to the SABC Auditorium, in Sea Point, where Mac McKenzie -- always one of most unpredictable figure on Cape Town's music scene -- will lead the Goema Orchestra in the world premiere of his Table Bay Concerto in G. Read more →

Basil Moses: 1941-2011

Note: Ekapa, Greg Davids, Mike Campbell, Mike Rossi, and Dave Ledbetter have offered their memories of Basil. Please scroll down to read them. Basil Moses, perhaps the finest jazz bassist that South Africa has ever produced, died on Sunday morning, after a long battle with cancer and the effects of... Read more →

Cape Town Jazz Festival, 2011: Featured on African Lens

I'm happy to say that African Lens, a terrific web magazine that showcases photography from Africa, has just published a selection of my photos from the Cape Town International Jazz Festival. A brief article about the festival accompanies the photos. To see the photos and read the story, click here.... Read more →