All photographs by Christo_D. (dohertyc@artworks.wits.ac.za) on Nikon D70.
Johannesburg bassist and loop improvisor, Carlo Mombelli – in performance.
Trumpter Marcus Wyatt from the same performance.
Electro accoustic guitarist Joa Orrechio adjusts one of of his myriad effects pedals during an improvised performance with Carlo and Marcus. The trio were cooking!
Luc Houtcamp spent the four days of the Unyazi Festival in workshops with groups of improvisors. Their performances, on the last day of the Festival, were electrifying. Here Luc is seen setting up for the performance with Mathew Ostrowski and bassist, Marc Duby in the background.
Members of Luc Houtcamp’s POW ensemble in a furious blowing session against a reworked audio recording of FW de Klerk’s historic speech in which the announcement of Nelson Mandela’s release from 27 years of prison was first made public.
Luc Houtcamp working on an improvised duet with pianist and New Music SA Artistic Director, Michael Blake.
Johannesburg left-field jazz ensemble, Skid. Citing Monty Python as a major influence on their music and antics, the group celebrate the 2010 Soccer World Cup bid (which was won by South Africa) with a performance piece involving soccer balls rigged up as rhythm devices.
Another view of Skid in performance in the downstairs theatre on Wits campus.
Legendary Cape Town producer, sound artist, and founder of the Kalahari Surfers, Warric Sony in performance. His 15 minute improvisation entitled “The Continent Drift” used turntables, CD players, and computer to explore the fascination between German electronic music and African music.
The equipment used by Warric Sony in his performance, “The Continental Drift”.
Thanks for the great pictures! Unyazi was a very nice festival. the enthusiasm of the organizers, the musicians/composers, and also the audience made it into something very special. It is great to see how new electronic music in SA has come off the ground in the last 10 years. A lot of things have changed. The first time that I came to South Africa, in 1996, I had the feeling that people sow me as a kind of weird, perverse alien. That seem to have all changed!
Unyazi was my 6th visit to the country, after doing a few tours and two longer periods of giving lectures at UND in Durban, and Rhodes in Grahamstown.
One final (minor) comment. My name is written as: Luc Houtkamp, not Luc Houtcamp.
Luc