Honour Thy Music!

Counterpoint regularly puts diverse musicians on the same bill, each doing a solo set before combining for a finale and so Thursday night saw Jacques du Plessis (the Jackal part of Mr Cat & The Jackal), Sannie Fox & Lonesome Dave Ferguson sharing a stage at the Blah Blah Bar.  The upstairs space of the Blah Blah Bar is not only home to the Erdmann contemporary art gallery, but also provides an intimate space for the die-hard music fan.

The result of the collaboration was an out of the ordinary, eclectic performance by Jacques, a multi-instrumentalist who will build an instrument to get the sound he wants and one of a few rare souls who have mastered the musical saw, Sannie (yes it is her real name, inherited from her Groot Ouma, Sannie Uys) with a voice that bends around each cord as it echoes off her Fender and King of Harmonica, Dave Ferguson who certainly needs no introduction to the realm that lies within the 12 bars.

The common thread that made the jam session work is woven in the fact that not one of the artists cares to sell out to consumerism. They make music on their own terms and for the sake of music. The ethos they live by reminds me of the slogan that stands proud in the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee: Honour Thy Music!