Sunday afternoon Jazz {second} at Eastgate Shopping Mall . . . continued . .

Body & Soul - Video {First} of Live Jazz on a Sunday in the shopping mall

Here's the first of many videos that I'll be able to add now after updating the laptop!

'Sody and Boul' posted especially with Jude in mind, but for everyone else to enjoy too!

This was on the roof of the Eastgate Shopping Mall this afternoon {sunday August 29th}

Friends of Sarah Wolff's [Redhill school piano teacher] 

Edith Klug - Vocals

Chris Luke - Sax

Dio Santos - Drums

Johnathan - Guitar 

There will be video additions to previously posted entries, so watch for notifications.

uKhahlamba - The Barrier of the Spears

The Zulus call these mountains uKhahlamba - The Barrier of the Spears, though in the atlas they bear a more recent Afrikaans name - Drakensberg - Dragon Mountains. 

A very kind Piano Teacher from one of the local schools here lent me a book - "A Photographer's passion for The Drakensberg - Encounters with the Dragon".

Such are the quality of the photographs {the selection below is a just that - a selection!} and the definition of my digi-camera that I thought the best thing to do would be to post these and let you look at your leisure. You'll have to forgive the obvious 'book creases' etc but it's the thought that counts!

Unfortunately I won't be able to visit this area on this current trip, but Sarah Wolff {the teacher} comes from this part of the country, and was keen to share its beauty. 

  One thing that has become extremely obvious whilst spending 5 weeks 'locked' in Johannesburg is that there are HUGE tracts of wild land largely untouched by the regular daily footprint of man. This country [South Africa] is FOUR times the size of the UK with roughly 2/3rds the population - you can guess the rest. So here is just a taste of what you probably never thought might be found in South Africa!!?? 

I've posted some of the opening quotes from the book too . . . . enjoy! 

Apologies about some photos being wrong orientation - time is not on my side, so you'll just have to turn your head or the computer :-) {forgive formatting from Wiki cut & paste too!}

The range is located in the eastern part of Southern Africa, running for some 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) from south-west to north-east. The mountains drain on the western slopes by the Orange and Vaal rivers, and on the east and south by a number of smaller rivers, the TugelaKwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa and the Drakensberg mountain kingdom of Lesotho being the largest. Looming over the nearby coast of Natal the range covers the border between KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa and the Drakensberg mountain kingdom of Lesotho.

Tree or Mobile Mast?

I have to admit - I only noticed these properly about 2 weeks ago!

All the mobile network masts here are disguised as trees!

Now isn't THAT an interesting idea?

Going Home to meet the King - Sunday Lunch with the Carter Family

I've referred to Nick Carter before in this blog, but I had the rare privilege to be invited to spend 'sunday lunch and beyond' with his family . . .  

When you meet someone for the first time, no matter what brings you together, if there's synergy then you'll be intrigued to know where 'the other one' came from . . . what makes them tick?

Nick was kind enough to drive across town to fetch me - a significant drive - made easier only because it was sunday and the roads weren't they're usual crazy self.

On the journey, we traded basic info. . . we're similar sort of age bracket. 

Turns out Nick's Dad was an Anglican Bishop. They had 33 homes in 15 years, and Mum did alot of work in the townships with mothers & children - trying to make things better through art and creative means.

{Interesting isn't it . . . how 'creativity' and 'art/artistic' seem to crop up when people have 'nothing'} 

Nick is an amazingly experienced professional musician, and his pedigree allows him to approach the highest calibre players as and when a project needs/warrants it.

The four photos below are from the track he wrote/produced for Madiba's 90th birthday, and there's a greater connection that I'll explain in a later post . . . concerning a personal letter written by Nelson Mandela to his Mother.

 

Main cover

. . . and a few pics taken around the homestead

A Music School in a double garage!? East Rand Music & Drama School . . .

Now there's a fine group of teachers!

Just a regular street, with a regular wall, and a regular guard???

This is "Keyboard Magic" - a 45-minute drive from the hotel. Jo'burg covers a huge area and it often takes this amount of time to reach the places where the work is to be done.

That's Paul from Malawi

Why Malawi?? Because there's no work there. Paul 'lives in' at the premises, and is on guard from 0700 in the morning until 1900 in the evening - 6 days per week.

Just a regular suburb . . .

And a close up of the 10 most likely to :-)

I told you it was a double garage!

A Music School on a housing estate!?

Someone's just done their singing exam!

Not the street signs you might be used to - look on the kerbs silly!!

Who lives in a house like this??

Alfred the teacher with willing pupil . . .

. . . And we do singists too!

School leader Lynn Beech and daughter Michelle