Buddy Wells Quartet in concert in Langa

ABOUT

Supported by Concerts SA this concerts features Buddy Wells' Quartet made of himself, Reza Khota on guitar, bassist Sibusiso Matsimela and drummer Tefo Mahola.

Saxophonist, composer and arranger Buddy Wells was born into memories of South African urban jazz, from his father, musician and activist Trevor – which perhaps explains his popularity as sideman of choice throughout the history of the Cape Town International Jazz Festival. Royal College of Music graduate, Wells has won many personal awards including 1994 Adcock Ingram Competition for Best Jazz Instrumentalist, and the 1996 SAMRO Overseas Scholarship Competition and has made regular appearances at other prestigious festivals in South Africa, Asia and Europe, with musicians as diverse as Feya Faku, Marcus Wyatt, Manu Dibangu, the late Miriam Makeba and Abdullah Ibrahim, inclduing recordings too numerous to list, most recently Andreas Loven’s project District Six. Jazz writer Gwen Ansell in Business Day called Wells “too self-effacing for his own good. He plays superbly in diverse and sometimes surprising contexts, and has won his share of awards, but has no album out as leader and rarely stars in interviews or media features… [But] his quietness may in fact be a key strength. The unpretentious openness he brings to projects allows him to contribute on whatever wavelength is required – yet his work is always inventive and intelligent, and always adds insight.” When 702’s Afrika Melane interviewed him in Grahamstown and dubbed him a “jazz master”, his typically self-effacing response was: “You can never master jazz, hey.”