WeeklySA_AdminBILL: A Heritage Day concert brought jazz to the people on Thursday before the festival moved to the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg on Friday.
By Sipho Maluka
The Standard Bank Joy of Jazz got under way on Thursday with Free the Jazz, a Heritage Day concert on the Sandton City rooftop. The free event offered audiences a first taste of a weekend devoted to African jazz and the artists carrying it forward.
This evening, the festival moved to the Sandton Convention Centre for the first of its two main concert nights. Across four stages, this year’s programme brings international names such as Angélique Kidjo and Kamasi Washington together with South African musicians and tributes to the country’s jazz pioneers. The main festival continues on Saturday.
The 2026 edition also draws meaning from two anniversaries: 50 years since the Soweto Uprising and 70 years since the Women’s March. Performances honouring Hugh Masekela and Kippie Moeketsi place that history within a programme that gives younger artists room to be heard.
For festival producer Mantwa Chinoamadi, Joy of Jazz is a place for connection across generations and cultures.
Thursday’s open invitation and Friday’s gathering of musicians and audiences offered two expressions of that idea: jazz shared in public, then carried onto the festival stage.
