'Cape Town for Haiti' sees 16 top singer-songwriters lend a voice and a helping hand to the victims of the massive earthquake that killed hundreds of thousands of Haitians and affected more than 3 million people.
 "As global citizens, it was an obvious good cause," says Gavin Minter of Real Wired Music, who is organising the event, which sees sixteen top singers and musicians playing a unique, one-night-only acoustic concert in aid of the Haiti relief effort. "I don't know enough about the relief effort in Haiti to comment authoritatively, but whenever I read anything about it, or see pictures of it, I am struck by the devastation. People there can;t yet deal with things in terms of the foreseeable future - it's still just about getting by from day to day. When you see something like that, how can you not help?"
The germ of the idea came from local singer, songwriter and musician Lionel Bastos as part of the MAD 4 Haiti initiative under the banner "Making A Difference". Shortly after completing his most recent album, "Hmmm", news of the devastating earthquake that struck the island republic on 12 January prompted Lionel to pen and record the song "I'll Be There". With artists and musicians from around the country prepared to donate their time and talent to the cause, a Cape concert was the next logical step and he approached Minter who, in addition to being a SAMA nominated jazz musician, is also a music event organiser and promoter.
"We sent out the call to different musicians to create a nice line-up that would appeal to different people," explains Minter. "We have some of the younger, new and hip songwriters like Simon van Gend, Jack Mantis, Gary Thomas and Ian Henderson. Then there are people like Wendy Oldfield, Lionel, Tina Schouw, Paul Abro and myself who are probably known to a different sort of age group. Amanda Tiffin and Mark Fransman have a jazzier appeal and Claire Phillips has the same with R'nB. We tried to spread it across different kinds of music and there was not one musician I approached that did not want to do it straight away."
"Cape Town for Haiti" does not only feature the traditionally more acoustic and singer-songwriter vein of artists, but also see Flat Stanley, Merseystate and Farryl Purkiss on the bill, as well as Prime Circle frontman Ross Learmonth. "I knew Ross was busy in Cape Town, recording and I knew May was a good time for them, so I 'phoned him first," says Minter. "He said yes immediately, and that's when I knew the concert could work. The only person we couldn't get was Art Matthews, from Just Jinjer, who really wanted to do it, but can't because he's on a course."
"Some of the artists I knew would be right, and some came by way of recommendations. Like Merseystate, who Lionel suggested. They don't often do live gigs, but they'll be playing as a duo - just Wayne Joshua and Shai Caleb," explains Minter. "The format for the evening is very simple - we have a great line-up, with two sets with an interval, and every artist does two acoustic tunes; straight on and they plug in and they sing. We're treating it like a' 70s show, with no fancy effects and big set-ups - just the artists and their songs and music. I told everyone, 'It's a simple acoustic set-up; if Jim Croce didn't have it or Joni (Mitchell) didn't have it, then we can't have it'."
"It's not a rock 'n roll evening. It's very intimate - the biggest band is one that's a trio with two guitars and voice, and the rest is solo and duo," says Minter, who previously arranged the finale of the sadly defunct "Levi's Vintage Sundays" at the venue. "I chose the Baxter because I love the concert hall as a venue," he says. "It has goof acoustics, it's a good size and I love the look and the sound of the wood panels."
Some artists heeded the call despite tight tour schedules. "Farryl Purkiss is really busy now after he released his new album (the SAMA winning "Fruitbats & Crows"), but when I asked him, he made a plan," says Minter. "With everybody, it was like that - I just told them the name and the cause, and they said yes. People like Wendy Oldfield, whose not even in Cape Town, and Andy Mac and Flat Stanley, who only arrived back this week from their tour to Germany."
In addition to organising the event, Minter is also performing two songs. How, though, does he chose just two from the massive repertoire of jazz standards he regularly performs, or from his own brace of compositions from his latest album, "I'll Be Seeing You", or earlier hits? He laughs, then says, "I know, I know... I've been practising tunes and timing them. I don't want to be the only one who runs over time while I'm on everyone's case to keep to their slot. But what do you sing? I'll practise a song on the piano, thinking, 'It'll be nice to sit down at a grand and sing.' Then I'll think I should do one of my songs, something more personal that's about my family. Then I think it should be a deep, meaningful standard. I'll choose the right ones, but I'm still going through my repertoire."
Minter and Bastos received permission from Graca Machel's Africa for Haiti fund to title the concert "Cape Town for Haiti", and all funds raised will go to the fund for distribution. He ends with a simple, powerful observation: "It's a good cause with great musicians and, when they asked me to organise I, I just said 'I'm going to do this', because I think people should come, and will come. I can't really be more elaborate than that."
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"Cape Town for Haiti" runs for one night only, featuring Flat Stanley, Ross Learmonth (Prime Circle), Farryl Purkiss, Wendy Oldfield, Tina Schouw, Standard Bank Young Artist Award Winner (Jazz) Mark Fransman, SAMA-winner Claire Phillips, SAMA-nominee Gavin Minter, Lionel Bastos (featuring new songs off "Hmmm"), Simon Van Gend, Jack Mantis, Gary Thomas, Ian Henderson, Amanda Tiffin, MerseyState and Paul Abro on Wednesday 12 May (Baxter Theatre, Main Rd, Rondebosch, 021-6857880, 7.30pm, R100 - R120 from Computicket.com). All door takings go to Graca Machel's Africa for Haiti. See Baxter.co.za or Bit.ly/CT4Haiti. Hear Lionel Bastos' song "I'll Be There" at Bit.ly/LBhaiti
This column originally appeared in the Cape Argus 'Tonight; section on 8-9 May 2010. Find out more on Tonight.co.za
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Music journalist, Strategy Director for Stonewall+ and South African music radio DJ extraordinaire.
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