Well, HIFA has come to an end for another year and yes, it’s a bit sad in a way. I really enjoy the excitement, the activity, the BUZZ of the place! In my opinion it was one of the best HIFAs I have seen. There were some really great acts, some very imaginative ones and one that was truly original; Leo. I only saw one show that was amateurish and that was the hip hop dance; Live Vibe. For sheer virtuosity my award goes to Jazz Tap Ensemble but then it’s difficult to compare with say, Derek Gripper. I did not see much theatre so I cannot make any comments there except to say that what I did see was good though not exactly uplifting!
My last day was pretty relaxed. Ary Morais was another Cape Verdian and by the end of it everyone was clapping along to the infectious beat. Local boy Blessing stole the show a bit on the drums but the music belonged to the band.
Dr. K-Sextet played some decidedly contemporary classical music then ended with a crowd pleasing Ravel’s Bolero that had the audience asking for more but the show had started late due to a previous church service.
Haari Kuusijarvi gave a very relaxed show of Finnish contemporary music on the accordion thanks to the Finnish Embassy in Lusaka. The final act of the day for me was the Dutch pop band Adlicious who got the crowd on their feet at the 7 Arts theatre. They don’t normally play in theatres but clubs and their music reflected it. They also normally have a backing group but it didn’t affect their singing and they entertained in style.
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Cape Verdian, Ary Morais. I think I want to visit the place – they were just so relaxed and if the music is anything to go by it will be great fun too!
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Local boy Blessing gets going.
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And going..
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Then does the rock star drummer thing.
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And finishes with a smile. He is really young, I remember photographing him as part of the Prince Edward School Jazz band only a few years ago.
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4 of the sextet of Dr K. Finally they get the lighting right at this venue. Maybe it had something to do with a snarky comment I left in the comments book about the dismal quality of it or maybe they thought the audience would like to see the performers!
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A study in concentration from the percussionist of Dr. K-Sextet. Moving all that equipment around the world must be tedious. And there was a lot not in the photo! Also in the group is a pianist, violinist, ‘cellist, flautist and clarinet player.
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The crowd was well pleased witha great performance. They said they’d come back if they got the nod. See them next year if they do!
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Haari Kuusijarvi takes Finnish contemporary music to a new level. I’d always thought it a bit of a folk instrument but his rendition of Sibelius’ Finlandia was exquisite.
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Dutch group Adlicious get going. The girl with the “million dollar legs” (as my mother would have said) could also sing and look good!
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They enjoyed the show too. I believe the first performance was not well attended so I’m glad it was better here.
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Adlicious give it their all.
Notes on the equipment I used:
Nikon D90 with 18-105 F4-5.6 zoom
Velbon monopod – flash was mostly prohibited and I don’t like using it anyway.
Kingston 16GB class 4 SDD card
I use GIMP 2 for post processing but that was limited to the occasional cropping – I did not have time for the fancy stuff.
Zimbabwe Absurdity 