We are the ladies and gentlemen on that dreamy band stand … clad in charcoal black dresses and charcoal black suits and sometimes snow-white white tuxedos jackets, with black bow ties… that welcome you and your special guests, as you arrive at your prestigious event’s venue, playing jazz interpretations of your favourite songs live on stage, and creating the perfect ambiance to complement the imperial work of the event organisers, and the aroma of the perfectly paired meals and beverages.
From Supreme Solo Violinist and Peerless Serenading Saxophonist performances, to enchanting Trio / Quartet / Quintet / Sextet, etc. performances, we at Jazz Essay Live offer The Quintessential Premium Live Experience packages to suit a variety of premium tastes and requirements.
Musicians: Our wide range of high skill levels that our exceptional musicians possess, most of whom have Music qualifications with specialisation in Jazz, is one of the reasons we confidently say that nothing is impossible when it comes to meeting our clients’ requirements. This positions Jazz Essay Live as the vanguard Live Jazz Entertainment company, with a repertoire and personnel that live up to the standard. True to the live jazz culture and standards, responding to impromptu requests and situations is part of our savoir-faire DNA. The exponential increase in the number of luxury weddings, corporate events, lifestyle events, and various types of cocktail events (to name but a few) over the past 6 years, are testament of the high quality of our offering and our ability to adapt our offering to when the need arises.
Repertoire: We cover quite an extensive range of songs in our music repertoire, and always take guidance from our clients. Allowed a bit of scope to innovate, we draw inspiration from the pin-striped-suits and polkas-dots-dresses-and-white-gloves era of the vibrant urban black music culture of the 60s across South Africa(despite the hardships of the time) – think District Six, Sophiatown, Alexandra and Marabastad, amongst others. We also draw inspiration from the American Songbook, with its various accomplished standards, and from various parts of the world. Our repertoire thus takes the romance of a café overlooking a lake somewhere in Europe, the pioneering sounds of the Chicago and New Orleans jazz movements, the vibrancy and originality of the early years of jazz in South Africa, a hint of inspiration from other parts of the world, and then … blends it all together with our supreme suave execution, creative excellence and an unsurpassed passion for jazz and entertaining… resulting in not just another live jazz performance, but our signature Quintessential Premium Live Jazz Experience !
Social Impact: We are strongly rooted in the South African Jazz Culture, and the preservation and nurturing of the jazz genre both locally and internationally is at the core of everything we do. As part of our contribution to the fostering and preservation of South African jazz, and jazz artistry in general, we constantly seek to empower students studying towards a music qualification, preferably with specialization in Jazz, by exposing them to high-end events entertainment and giving them opportunities to perform with our world-class experienced musicians. We believe that that’s where the future of the music lies. As custodians of the genre and the artistry thereof, we also get involved in the solo recording projects of our musicians, assisting with everything from strategy to funding where possible.