Cape Town Jazz & Molelekwa
Joe on November 30th, 2009 | Filed under Travel
There are a thousand perfect reasons to visit Cape Town, and for every reason there are at least a thousand more. This spectacular city is one of the liveliest in the world, with a host of cultures and cultural activities, offering a window to the future and the history of the human race. It’s had an amazing and complicated history, and it continues to move and to change in radical new directions every day. It’s one of the largest financial and cultural centers on the African continent, and there’s always something to do, any time of day or night. It also boasts some of the most exquisite beaches in the world, and is close to nature reserves, as well as some of the world’s most celebrated golf courses. There’s much more, too, and it’s possible to come here and see only nature, or only city, and to have an amazing time in either, or both.
It has an amazing population, with a stunning creative output, and for performance, there are stupendously good entertainers here. Many are born here, and many are drawn here by the city’s intensely creative energy and magnetic attraction. Artists are notorious for having a fiercely independent nature, and if you’re inclined toward originality yourself, your best accommodation idea might be a boutique hotel. Cape Town has many spectacular offerings in this regard, offering sumptuous lodgings with an eye for detail, catering to the individuality of its guests. This is certainly something different than the usual chain hotels, and is a fantastic way to enjoy all the city has to offer. You’ll be sleeping in gorgeous decor, and following your own creative whims, in the spirit of many of the musical geniuses of South Africa’s history.
One amazing player who became part of the history much too soon was Moses Melelekwa. He grew up on the sounds of jazz greats John Coltrane, Thelonius Monk, and Miles Davis, and had a terrific hunger for learning the traditions that he would become a part of. The conditions under apartheid made formal education extremely difficult at best, and his success in achieving world renown is a testament to his own tenacity, as well as the support of his colleagues and family. That he only lived to be 27 is a great tragedy, and the legacy of Molelekwa will have to live on in the recordings and the ghosts of all that could have been.
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