Jazz superstar Somi at The Westcliff this weekend
Beloved jazz vocalist Somi performs in Joburg on Saturday.
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – AUGUST 28,Somi of Rwanda sings during the 2009 Standard Bank Joy of Jazz held in Newtown on August 28, 2009 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Photo by Lefty Shivambu / Gallo Images
On March 11 the Four Seasons Hotel The Westcliff is hosting Somi live in concert on the Jazz on the Hill stage. Somi, often referred to as a modern day Miriam Makeba with the earthy genuineness of Nina Simone, was one of the headliners at last year’s Standard Bank Joy of Jazz – and considering her Ugandian and Rwandian roots she has become lauded for her refashioning of Jazz and African sounds in a soulful way.
Born in Illinois to immigrants from Rwanda and Uganda, Somi has built a career of transatlantic sonicism and storytelling. Petite Afrique, Somi’s sophomore album has been mentioned as a daring, relevant refashioning of what “jazz” and “African music” means – both singularly and to each other.
The album which tells the story of African immigrants in the midst of a gentrified Harlem, New York, won a 2018 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Jazz Album. Petite Afrique is the highly anticipated follow-up to Somi’s last chart-topping album and major label debut The Lagos Music Salon, which was inspired by an 18-month creative sabbatical in Lagos, Nigeria, features special guests Angelique Kidjo and Common, and landed at #1 on US Jazz charts. Both albums straddle the worlds of African jazz, soul, and pop with a newfound ease.
Somi’s perfomance at The Westcliff is part of an exciting autumn line-up at the hotel which includes the pièce de résistance on March 17, 18 and 21 of a French pop-up restaurant with Michelin Star Chef Vincent Lucas.
Born in France, Lucas creates contemporary French cuisine which he describes as creative dishes inspired by tradition, and embalmed with distinct, refined flavours. This pop-up culinary experience forms part of a collaboration with Goût de France (Taste of France), a global initiative by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which aims to boost the visibility of French cuisine on the world’s five continents.
Born in France, Lucas creates contemporary French cuisine which he describes as creative dishes inspired by tradition, and embalmed with distinct, refined flavours. This pop-up culinary experience forms part of a collaboration with Goût de France (Taste of France), a global initiative by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which aims to boost the visibility of French cuisine on the world’s five continents.
Goût de France launched last night at the French Residence in Pretoria. Ambassador of France to South Africa, Christophe Farnaud, hosted an exclusive wine tasting of French and South African wines and culinary experience with world champion sommelier Philippe Faure-Brac and Lucas. The fourth edition of Goût de France takes place globally between March 19 and 25 with over 2 000 restaurants in 150 countries participating to celebrate French gastronomy and French art de vivre.
The participating #GoodFrance restaurants are:
Johannesburg:
SA Culinary Club,
Radisson Blu Sandton,
Four Seasons The Westcliff,
Les Délices de France,
Le Saint Tropez.
Pretoria: Leriba Hotel,
Court Classique Suite Hotel,
Brasserie de Paris,
EAT@UP,
Prue Leith Restaurant.
Cape Town and surrounds
The 41 and Chefs Restaurant,
Le Coin Français.
Durban:
The Glenwood Restaurant,
Fusion Restaurant,
Fusion French Café,
Île Maurice Restaurant.
Ladysmith:
Esiweni Lodge
Port Elizabeth:
Muse Restaurant
For more information visit www.fourseasonsevents.co.za and https://za.ambafrance.org/-Good-France-
