Vocalist and songstress Msaki to kick start popular music series Bassline Live at Gold Reef City
The artist will share the stage with choreographer and dancer Kristi-Leigh Gresse and new music find Vinnie Mak on February 25, at Gold Reef City, Johannesburg.
By Edward Tsumele, CITYLIFE/ARTS Editor
Those who love neo-soul music may as well prepare themselves for a soulful journey with Msaki, who not only over the past few years has impressed audiences with her guitar riffs, but her soulful voice and her sophisticated, alternative sound. She is a talented songwriter too, a skills that eludes many on the contemporary music scne in the country right now.
All the action will be happening at Gold Reef City, in Johannesburg on February 25, 2022. And this vocalist, who in the short time that she has been in the entertainment industry, has made a huge impression oo discerning music lovers, will join forces with others on this journey that promises to be a musical experience with a difference. With audiences having been denied an opportunity to watch their favourite artists perform live for sometime now,, this gig should come as a relief to those who love good music and to watch their favourite artists perform live, instead of watching streamed performances as it has been the norm for most of the past two years. This state of affairs was due to restrictions applying to crowds to minimise the rate of infection in the country. Those restrictions have however since been relaxed, allowing a certain number of people to congregate at venue subject to strict Covid-19 protocols being followed.
“Bassline Live is excited to get this year started with the first of the Bassline Live at The Lyric Theatre series at Johannesburg’s Gold Reef City. This year the Bassline is taking the series live experience up a notch with multi-disciplinary artist collaborations. This first concert of the series, on February the 25th 2022, in association with BET, will showcase Msaki as the headline artist presenting Platinumb Heart. Part of the show will include a collaboration with dancer, choreographer Kristi-Leigh Gresse, the current Standard Bank Young Artist Award Winner for Dance. The support act for the evening is Vinnie Mak from ALTBLK>, the home of unique African independent artists, founded by Msaki.,” announced the producres of this series this week, Bassline Productions.
This is definitely a concert many a discerning music lover will look forward to, especially with the release of Msaki’s sophomore double album, Platinumb Heart, in November last year, in which she pushes boundaries giving both her singer-songwriter acoustic and electronic/producer sides time to shine. This double album earned her millions of streams worldwide, radio chart success, consecutive days of Twitter trending and immense support from both digital stores and media alike, for her ambitious, brave, heart opening and genre defying offering.
“I am excited to perform again at the Bassline Live at the Lyric Theatre, our performance last May was one of my favourite shows of the year. It’s always great to work with the Bassline family, for this show I will collaborate with dancer Kristi-Leigh Gresse during my set and my brother Vinnie Mak, from the ALTBLKcontinua community, who recently moved from the Eastern Cape to Jozi, will open the show with his Buffalo City Blues.” says Msaki.
Kristi-Leigh Gresse has collaborated with a remarkable variety of South Africa’s dancers and choreographers, developing her own ‘voice’ as an artist as her work has cohered thematically around the politics of the body as well as expressions of collective and individual identity. She won a Standard Bank Ovation Gold Award for Sullied at the National Arts Festival in 2018 and went on to win the South East Dance Award at the Brighton Fringe Festival in 2019, before being commissioned to produce a dance screen offering for the digital JOMBA! Festival in 2020.