Brussels Jazz Orchestra w. Tutu Puoane Mama Africa, the new album by the Brussels Jazz Orchestra, pays tribute to Miriam Makeba, possibly the greatest South African singer ever. Tutu Puoane, who hails from South Africa, was invited to sing and choose the songs. Seven arrangers were commissioned to arrange these songs from ‘Mama fact sheet Africa’s’ repertoire for one of Europe’s best big bands, the Brussels Jazz Orchestra. Artist • Brussels Jazz The BJO worked with Tutu Puoane before in several projects, e.g. a tribute to Billy Orchestra, Tutu Puoane Holiday. Tutu Puoane in her own right is a rising star. Her two solo albums Song and Quiet title • Mama Africa Now were well received and both albums were licensed into Japan and South Africa. label • Saphrane Especially on her second album she shows more of her South African roots and it was no article nr • S 62612 big surprise that she was invited by the BJO to put together a program with music from format • CD/jewelcasr/O- South Africa. It was in this period that Miriam Makeba passed away, so eventually it was card decided that most of the songs were to be from this great singer’s repertoire. booklet • 28 pages: Amongst the songs chosen are various contemporary compositions by some of the English, Dutch best writers the land has to offer, but also quite a few folk songs in native languages. country • Belgium/South Nevertheless Mama Africa is a real jazz album that pays a worthy tribute to ‘Mama Africa’. Africa genre • jazz/big band brussels jazz orchestra price • full price bookings In 1993 Frank Vaganée, Serge Plume and Marc Godfroid, three big names on the Belgian scene, decided to set up new professional big band. Shortly before, the BRT Big Band had disappeared and, consequently, the composers and musicians had lost the band web • opportunity to perform high-quality big band music and the public no longer had a www.brusselsjazzorchestra.com chance to listen to this specific genre. e-mail • [email protected] The Brussels Jazz Orchestra's basic strength resides in its "traditional" big band line- up. Depending on the project, this line-up can be extended. The repertoire mainly tracklisting consists of in-house productions including orchestral, crossover, soloist and multimedia - projects, with concerts featuring musicians such as Richard Galliano (FR), David Linx, Brussels Philharmonic, Philip Catherine, Toots Thielemans and many others. The BJO 1. The House In Midrand / Jikele' works in close collaboration with composers Bert Joris and Frank Vaganée, the ensem- Maweni 2. What More Can Be Right ble's in-house composers, but also involves other Flemish and Belgian big band arrangers 3. When I've Passed On and composers. 4. West Wind In addition to its own productions, the orchestra seeks interesting international 5. Mountain Shade projects, working with Maria Schneider (US), Kenny Werner (US), Lee Konitz (USA) and 6. Thanayi Dave Douglas (USA), to name just a few. 7. Mayibuye 8. Africa Is Where My Heart Lies tutu puoane 9. Umqokozo Tutu Puoane in her own right already released two cds with her jazz quartet on Saphrane. Her debut album ‘Somg’ (Saphrane S62602) was released in 2007 and later licensed to South African, Japanese and Thai labels. The follow-up ‘Quiet Now’ (Saphrane S62607) was released in 2009 and immediately licensed to Japan and South Africa. ‘Mama Africa’ is the first album where she is the lead vocalist of a big band, a long- time dream of this remarkable talent. The combination of her sublime voice, the quality of the BJO’s musicians and the beautiful arrangements turn this album into a worthy tribute to South African music and culture as well as to Miriam Makeba. 8 *uawhai#nxnyxx* m u s i c & w o r d s Maanlander 41 • 3824MN Amersfoort • The Netherlands Tel + 31 (0)33 7676 135 • Fax + 31 (0)33 7676 139 E-mail [email protected] (orders: [email protected]).