Dozi sings the blues to appreciative fans at school

Legendary South African singer/songwriter Dozi entertained a small-but-enthusiastic crowd last Saturday as part of Dundee Pre-Primary School’s Winterfees.
Dozi (gebore Hendrik Opperman) is ‘n sanger wat oor kultuurgrense bekend is vir sy Afrikaanse, Engelse en Zoeloe optredes.
Van sy treffers sluit in ‘Ou Ryperd’ (‘n heropname), ‘Tussen Jou en My’, ‘Staan Net ‘n Bietjie Stil’ en ‘Maybe My Baby’. Dozi is gebore in Hluhluwe in Natal en het al op ‘n vroeë ouderdom begin sing.
In 1999 word sy eerste album, ‘Mercy’, vrygestel.
Die album is in Zoeloe opgeneem. Sy tweede album, ‘Op Aanvraag’, word in 2001 in Afrikaans uitgegee.
He recalled how, when he started out in Pretoria, he would perform gigs until the early hours of the morning, which led to his nickname ‘Dozi’, because he was so fond of sleeping during the day.
He and his two-piece band hammered out all the old Dozi classics and also threw in some blues music, including a rendition of ‘Knocking on Heaven’s Door’.
To give Dozi and his band a hand, local resident / music enthusiast Brandon Smith came forward and loaned out his drum set for the night, without charge.
“Always a pleasure to help, especially if it’s for a school too,” said Brandon, who happily posed for a photo with Dozi – who, upon thanking him, gratefully accepted a token of appreciation from pre-primary principal Brenda Viljoen.