Ok, with the accolades out of the way, I
would like to share with you my personal experience at the
event. Drum roll..............
I am the first to admit that I am not a camper. I prefer
comfort and luxury, but I had made up my mind that I would
go there with an open mind, prepared to rough it, and I
looked forward to ‘bonding with the universe’
as my Facebook status said on Friday.
In retrospect, I used the wrong word.
I had prepared myself, and was indeed looking forward to
‘bonding with nature.’
I had completely ignored the impact that man – a huge
player in the universe - has on nature, the environment,
and as such the universe.
As the name implies, this is supposed to
be a ‘Jazz’ festival, and I am a firm believer
in the ‘it’s jez’ music massa’
definition of the term.
But I knew from the start that Clarence, for two reasons,
could not afford to book any artists of substance to perform
at the event.
He had limited budget at his disposal, and most South African
artists of substance have priced themselves out of the market.
But you could have done much better Clarence.
Much better. All it takes is a little mix of understanding,
creativity, passion and effort.
With the Department of Environmental Affairs
as a co-sponsor and the ‘conservative overlords’
of the Cape Columbine Nature Reserve visibly breathing heavily
down his neck, Clarence went to great lengths to adhere
to their ‘Too Precious to Pollute’ policy.
But at this event, my personal space, and
therefore my experience of the environment and indeed the
universe was thoroughly polluted by a string of untalented
traders belting out the same cover versions of songs by
American artists that I used to perform some thirty-five
years ago. Thirty-five years ago these songs could be termed
progressive. Today the same songs reek of stagnation.
As a live music event, this was another
insult to South African artists, attracting many of your
typical local ‘smooth jazz’ junkies.
You know the kind.
Those who see this as another opportunity to imbibe as much
alcohol as humanly possible and allow their culture
to erupt violently as they concurrently compete with a very
impressive Line Array sound system to pollute the airwaves.
This combination so affected my psyche that
it was impossible for me to bond with anything.
At the end I felt oppressed and as defeated as the young,
injured penguin that was floundering helplessly in the icy
shallows of Tietie's Baai on Sunday morning.
But that’s just my experience.
Judging by the comments on Facebook, everyone else thought
‘it was an awesome event’ and they
are all looking forward to next year’s Jazz on the
Rocks, where a certain pastor has opportunistically threatened
to add a day of gospel to further cement and fortify the
brainwashing of ‘Our People.’
Save me Pater Noster.
