STF 2026 Music line-up

CELEBRATING THE BEST OF SIMON'S TOWN

15 – 17 May 2026 · Simon's Town

From intimate jazz to groove-driven improvisation - join us for a weekend of extraordinary live music presented by the Cape Town Jazz Train.

Friday 15th May

Proof of Life

A newly formed trio explores a structured yet fluid approach to music, using improvisation to tap into shared sonic memory and ensuring each performance is unique and unrepeatable. Their name underscores a commitment to thinking and creating in the moment, positioning improvisation as a response to rigid, mechanised, and homogenising cultural forces.

Date: Friday 15th May 2026

Time: 18h00 - 21h00

Venue: Bonne Esperance, 238 Queens Road, Simon's Town

This newly formed trio attempts to bring together the composed idea that is at the same time endlessly malleable. Taking the phrase as a springboard into the unknown, or perhaps shared collective archive of grooves and affects. The only certainty is that every performance will be unrepeatable.

The name of the ensemble reflects on the imperative to improvise and think in the moment, as an antithesis to the new forms of techno-fascism, mechanisation and assimilation of the sensorium into the neoliberal order.

Asher Gamedze - Drums

Sean Sanby - Bass

Reza Khota - Guitar

Saturday 16th May

Hilton Schilder

Born in Lotus River, Cape Town, Hilton began in Kaapse Klopse bands and co-founded The Genuines with Mac McKenzie, championing Goema music. He later led African Dream and Iconoclast with Victor Ntoni and Vusi Khumalo. A key Cape jazz figure, he’s collaborated with Robbie Jansen, performed at CTIJF, and toured internationally. His debut No Turning Back (2003) earned a SAMA nomination.

Date: Saturday 16th May 2026

Time: 16h00

Venue: Natural Yarns Balcony, Simon's Town

Hilton Schilder was born in Lotus River, Cape Town, and grew up in a musical family (his father is the jazz pianist and band leader Tony Schilder). He began playing early in bands in the Kaapse Klopse. In the 1980s he founded The Genuines with Mac McKenzie, who specialized in the Goema music of the Western Cape province. He led African Dream and Iconoclast (with Victor Ntoni and Vusi Khumalo). Robbie Jansen invited him to join the band Sons of Table Mountain. He also led his own groups, with whom he also performed at the Cape Town International Jazz Festival, and toured with Johannes Enders. His first album, No Turning Back (2003), was nominated in the "best contemporary jazz album" category for at the South African Music Awards (SAMA).

He co-founded the duo RockArt with Alex van Heerden, which moved in the direction of acoustic and electronic minimal jazz. He has worked with Mac McKenzie, Namakwa, The District Six Band, and The Goema Captains of Cape Town. In 2008 he was artist in residence at the Bird's Eye Jazz Club in Basel.

Buddy Wells and Reza Khota

The duo presents reimagined versions of their compositions, drawing on years of collaboration across different setups. Stripping away the conventional rhythm section, they explore a sparse, open sound where saxophone and guitar take on expanded roles, creating implied grooves and rich textures. Their music blends diverse influences — from South African jazz to Uhadi — with breathy harmonics and reverberant guitar.

Date: Saturday 16th May 2026

Time: 18h00

Venue: The Piazza Willet’s Hotel Courtyard

The duo will present reimagined arrangements of their respective compositions. Having played together for many years now in different musical configurations, this sparse textured combo uses the space that is provided without the conventional rhythm section to find new roles for the saxophone and guitar, chief among them being an attention to open spaces and implied groove. Expect diverse influences, from SA jazz to Uhadi, included within breathy harmonic overtones and reverberant electric guitar.

Sunday 17th May

Tete Mbambisa Sextet

Tete Mbambisa, born in Duncan Village in 1942, learned piano informally in his mother’s shebeen, developing a strong ear for chords early on. Influenced by artists like Frank Sinatra and Louis Jordan, he began performing as a teenager with the Four Yanks. By the late 1960s, he was working with Winston Mankunku and Duku Makasi on Inhlupeko. His later work, including the Tete Mbambisa Sextet, is known for its distinctive “Big Band Mbaqanga Jazz” style.

Date: Sunday 17th May 2026

Time: 11h30 - 13h00

Venue: Bonne Esperance, 238 Queens Road, Simon's Town

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Born in East London’s Duncan Village in 1942, he learned to play the piano his mother had put in her modest shebeen. He credits the place’s pianist, “an old man called Langa”, with teaching him his first chords, marking the notes with scraps of newspaper to show the combinations. Then “I checked: Ah, so the chords are built like this … so this is a major chord … I didn’t even know the names, but I used to hear the difference”. From his brother’s record collection, Mbambisa listened to Frank Sinatra, Louis Jordan and the Four Freshmen. In his teens, he formed a highly successful vocal group, the Four Yanks. By 1969, the pianist was working with Winston Mankunku and playing, composing and arranging with tenor-player Duku Makasi’s band, the Soul Jazzmen, on the landmark album Inhlupeko. The Tete Mbambisa Sextet is "Big Band Mbaqanga Jazz" excerpt from his seven album trove.

CELEBRATING THE BEST OF SIMON'S TOWN

15 – 17 May 2026 · Simon's Town, Cape Peninsula

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