09 Oct 2014

Fans of legendary Jazz icon, Earl Klugh will on Sunday October 12) experience a musical deluxe of one of the world’s renowned jazz maestros as he looks to take centre stage at the Gaborone International Convention Centre (GICC) courtesy of the First National Bank (FNBB) All That’s Jazz show.

Speaking at a press briefing, director of marketing and communications at FNBB, Bomolemo Selaledi said the show will also feature Botswana’s own saxophone maestro, Lister Boleseng.

“We want Batswana to have an event they identify with and are proud of, something to call our own and with the continuation of the FNB All That’s Jazz, we look forward to this becoming a calendar event we can all look forward to,” she said.

With the inaugural show having taken place in July 2012, the show did not make it to 2013 and now this year it is back. Bomolemo said FNBB has partnered with Botswana craft as the promoters and they are tasked with bringing an amazing musical experience to the GICC.

She said at a social investment level through the FNBB Foundation, FNBB is the biggest corporate donor in Botswana and a leader in corporate social responsibility in the financial services sector.

“FNBB contributes one per cent of its profit after tax for corporate social responsibility programs primarily focusing education, community care, arts and culture, youth development and community sports,” she said.

She indicated that since 2001, the FNBB Foundation has invested more than P30 million in various social responsibility projects, enriching and uplifting the lives of many people in need across the country.

Bomolemo said the FNB All That’s Jazz is in line with the promotion of arts in Botswana. “Through the show we give local artists an opportunity to share the stage with international artists and draw some learning and best practices from their performances,” said Bomolemo.

She said through their sponsorship, FNB is demonstrating its commitment to the development of music, arts and culture in Botswana. “It can also provide a stimulus to tourism as has been demonstrated by many famous jazz festivals staged in Africa and around the world,” she said.

For his part, Oliver Groth of BotswanaCraft said Earl is a jazz heavyweight who was born in Detroit, Michigan and is considered one of the finest acoustic guitar players today. “Earl is a renowned musician and with over 30 albums he is truly in a league of his own,” he said.

Oliver indicated that flash photography will not be allowed at the event and rather they will choose maybe three or four photographers to shoot the event so that artists will not be disturbed.

He further said tickets are available at BotswanaCraft and web tickets. Ends