Jazz conference documents history

Free Lunch: The Artscape Youth Vocal Jazz Ensemble dished up a free lunch-hour performance at this year's South African Association for Jazz Education Jazz Conference.

Top local and international jazz artists and educators converged on UCT to present performances, workshops and research papers at the 10th South African Association for Jazz Education (SAJE) Jazz Conference.

The biannual event took place at the South African College of Music from 29 to 31 March, to document important events throughout SAJE's history and show how the association has changed over the past two decades.

Among the popular participants were UCT's own ? saxophonist Professor Mike Rossi and vocalist Amanda Tiffin. International participants included popular big band leader Steve Waterman of the UK, pianist Gloria Cooper of the US, and Kamil Erdem of Turkey.

Themed Jazz Education in South Africa: Past, Present and Future, the gathering focused on formal and informal jazz education over the past 25 years.

Diane Rossi, one of the organisers, reported that this year's attendance was "really excellent", and said she had been encouraged to see the variety of participants and attendees.

"They ranged from teachers, scholars, and amateur and professional musicians to university students from around the country, as well as those from the informal sector," she noted.