Glamour at Black Tie Jazz show

Mamohlakola Letuka

IT WAS a glamourous event at the Black-Tie Jazz show that was held at Avani Maseru on Friday.

The event that also served as a pilot for what is to be an annual gig exceeded expectations of both the organisers and the revellers who seemed not to have enough of the good music.

Performers on the night included Angel Zondo, JC Crew and Selimo Thabane who returned from a cultural exchange festival in Kuwait on the day.

South African songstress, Bucie, cancelled her performance and was replaced by house music outfit, Rhythmic Elements, who were at pains to gel into the jazzy line-up.

Their set was naturally noisy and they proved to be downright misfits while the rest put up exquisite sets.

Dee Tsekoa, the organiser of the event said they had not expected such a turn out given the concert excluded free meals tickets.

“The turnout was beyond our expectations, given the tickets were premium but excluded meals,” Dee said.

The performances were kick started by JC Crew who were tasked with saving the night after the audience got restless due a delayed start.

However, the crew manage to warm the audience up as Selimo readied for his set.

The singer who said he was honoured to represent the country at the Al Qurain Cultural Festival aimed at strengthening bilateral relations between Lesotho and Kuwait.

He was also later appointed the Cultural Exchange Ambassador after the two countries’ representatives signed a Memorandum of Understanding on arts and culture exchange.

The singer stepped onto the stage in hijabs that are traditional dressing in the Arab nation and his band mesmerised the audience right from the first note.

Out of familiarity, revellers sang along to each track and somewhat reached the climax when Selimo played the lamentation track, Koli-ea-malla and the Ultimate Award Song of the Year, Khomo.

Zondo, who followed soon afterwards also thrilled the audiences.

That the event spilled into the next day did not deter the revellers to continue with the party.

Speaking after her performance, Angel said the gig was one of the best initiatives to grow and inspire jazz music in the country.

“This is one of the calmest and most entertaining events that I have performed at and I would like to encourage organisers to hold more of such events for the growth of the industry,” Angel said.