Concert
Library Jams: A New Myth, Ten Years Later
The Goethe-Institut’s Goethe Library Jams returns in December 2023 – this time with a three-episode weekend event featuring Kujenga, Vivacious Voices under the tutelage of Yonela Mnana and The Brother Moves On.
For this special edition of what the German institute calls “Tiny Desk Concerts but in a Joburg library”, a two-day celebration will host three collectives of some of South Africa’s most gifted artists in front of a select audience.
On 2 December 2023, The Brother Moves On celebrates a decade of its first full-length album, A New Myth. Released on 4 December 2013, a day before former president Nelson Mandela’s death (“there are no coincidences”, says band leader Siyabonga Mthembu), the album was described as having “prophetic resonance” by the Mail & Guardian in its call for a “reactivated reality”.
The Market Photo Workshop Courtyard will play host to the avant-garde collective for Goethe Library Jam’s special 16th episode that will celebrate the album’s 10th anniversary. The group will play six tracks from A New Myth arranged by members of The Brother Moves On
Internationally acclaimed South African artist Nolan Oswald Dennis reunites with The Brother Moves On for the performance. Oswald Dennis designed A New Myth’s album cover and will collaborate with BJ Engelbrecht, a long-time collaborator and founding member of The Brother Moves On.
Episodes 14 and 15 will be performed and recorded as per the series’ usual format on Saturday, 1 December 2023, at the Market Photo Workshop Library. Each episode will be performed in front of a 30-person audience, stripped down in amplification and showcasing the band as never seen before.
Featuring Kujenga, a seven-piece Cape Town jazz band dubbed as “Cape Town’s answer to the vibrant Johannesburg jazz scene” by those in the know, as well as Vivacious Voices, a choir under the tutelage of pianist and musical maestro Yonela Mnana, 1 December 2023 promises to be an out of-the-ordinary experience for 60 lucky public audience members.
Buy tickets to The Goethe Library Jams on Webtickets or any affiliated distributor or at The Market Theatre box office.
The Goethe Library Jam
Episode: 14 - Kujenga at Johannesburg Market Photo Workshop Library
Episode 15 - Vivacious Voices lead by Yonela Mnana at Market Photo Workshop Library
Episode 16 - The Brother Moves On presents “A New Myth, Ten Years Later” ft Kujenga, Yonela Mnana ft Vivacious Voices at the Market Photo Workshop Square
Performance/recording dates:
2 December 2023 (Saturday) - Episode 16
Dramaturge and director: Thantaswa May
Production manager: Deshnee Subramany
Costume and set design: No Budget Productions
Animation: Nolan Oswald Dennis
Dancers/performance artists: Windybrow Dancers
Featured Musical Artists
Kujenga
"Hymn for Hani" by Kujenga
A seven-piece Cape Town jazz band has been making waves in the country as “Cape Town’s answer to the vibrant Johannesburg scene”. Featuring a three-piece horn section, the band will bolster The Brother Moves On’s two-piece horn section to form five pieces directed by Mthunzi Mvubu.
Yonela Mnana
Yonela Mnana - House on the Hill Concert
Yonela Mnana is a South African blind jazz scholar, a recording singer and jazz pianist who also teaches and composes. His Catholic School tuition coupled with the Sepedi and hometown IsiXhosa musical background seep through his jazz-inspired compositions effortlessly. His high school choral experience was later crystallised by his classical and jazz lectures at Wits University where he completed junior and master’s degrees (B.Mus and M.Mus) with distinction.
Vivacious Voices led by Yonela Manana
Vivacious Voices Facebook Page
Vivacious Voices is a music education programme in Katlehong that has borne fruit in the form of a n eight-piece choir (four men and four women) under the tutelage of pianist and musical maestro Yonela Manana. The choir recently performed with The Brother Moves On as part of Mandla Mlangeni’s “Oratoria of A Forgotten Youth” which featured Lesego Rampolokeng.
Featured Performance Artists
Nolan Oswald Dennis
Nolan Dennis Goodman Gallery Artist Page
Nolan Oswald Dennis (b. 1988, Zambia) is a para-disciplinary artist from Johannesburg, South Africa. Their practice explores what they call “a black consciousness of space”: the material and metaphysical conditions of decolonization. Oswald Dennis’s work questions the politics of space (and time) through a system-specific, rather than site-specific approach. They are concerned with the hidden structures that pre-determine the limits of our social and political imagination.Oswald Dennis designed the original cover to “A New Myth”.
No Budget Productions
"Rainbow Child" by The Brother Moves On shot by No Budget Productions
"Babalaas" by The Brother Moves On shot by No Budget Productions
No Budget Productions consists of the late founder Nkululeko Mthembu and BJ Engelbrecht - early performance artists and music video directors for The Brother Moves On. The Sunday performance will showcase a giant stage mimicking the Rainbow Child video television with recreations of The Brother Moves On’s Bagman, Boxman and Tapeman characters. The duo’s ethos of making with what you have created the early aesthetic of The Brother Moves On.
Discovr TV
Discovr TV website
Discovr TV is a dynamic and innovative live streaming and video production company dedicated to helping individuals, businesses, and organisations deliver engaging and captivating content to a global audience. With cutting-edge technology, creative expertise, and unwavering commitment to excellence, DiscovrTV are the go-to partner for live streaming and video production support.
DiscovrTV Productions was created in 2019 by Julian von Plato and Thabo Rametsi with the objective of building an African video production and distribution service
Their clients include Black Coffee, Kunye, RiSA, Nova Nordisk, Jägermeister, Jonnie Walker, Heineken, City of Joburg, Arts Alive, Basadi, FNB, Nedbank, Rand Merchant Bank, Bosch Rexroth, Vodacom, MTN, Boston Scientific, Bassline Events, Netflix, Amazulu and more.