The Story of South African Jazz

South African Jazz is experienced through waves of musical light called rays that peak in golden era’s. The timeline of the story is measured in ‘rays.’ A ray is like a wave of musical light. All though a wave may break on one beach, it builds across the width of an ocean. A ray of musical light is experienced when a cultural blossoming occurs, this is when it is at its brightest. When it is not at its brightest it exists in the heart of the musical creator who is tasked to nurture it to a point of release. The ray of musical light is a build up of a collective expression that marks a coming of age. We have measured roughly 15 years (cycles of earth around the sun) for every ray, because that can be the length of time it takes a jazz musician to develop his chops.