Still looking for the chill space

Grand Slam Tennis is not confined by time and this battle went on for as long as it took – in this case an astonishing six-hour spectacle – defined by amazing skill, endurance, and the conquering of pain. What a duel! Men’s tennis has become totally gladiatorial – and this felt like witnessing a fight to the near death in a modern colloseum. I was drained after that marathon and I had done no more than watch.
We needed a way to relax and relieve the tension after that – (I can’t imagine what Nadal needed) – and were very happy to have it provided by visiting Chicago jazz outfit, Dennis Luxion/Michael Raynor quartet. They performed a great Sunday evening concert at Prince Edward School and on Monday evening hosted local artists for a jam session downtown at Jazz 105.
Jazz 105 offers itself as a place for wine, dine and jazz. I’m never sure whether what these things do all work together and if so what is the magic formula. I have been following a friend’s new joint venture, a classic jazz club in Cape Town, and longing for a laid back place catering to the mature crowd in Harare. It just doesn’t seem to work here.  Cape Town’s Mahogany Room is based on the model of the world’s greatest jazz clubs – like Ronnie Scotts in London and the Village Vanguard in New York City – places where jazz lovers can appreciate good sound and a good drink. But that involves a R60 cover charge for which local fans would demand an all-night jive, not just a couple of hours set.
Mannenberg, with a grand kick off by South African jazz icon, Abdullah Ibrahim, aimed to be that place in Harare and for a while it was – preserving that jazz club feel of intimacy, good music, nice drinks and easy company. But they didn’t find a commercially winning formula and although in recent years the club has hosted some wonderful jazz acts, the bread and butter now seems to be reggae and funk.
The Luxion/Raynor quartet play original, hard-swinging jazz – offering old reworked standards as well as own compositions. The Monday night jam session was fun and it was a good platform for sharing sounds. But there was less musical dialogue than I expected and in some cases it felt more like competition than collaboration
Highlights though were the synergy and mutual respect between the quartet and the old Cool Crooners, specially invited from Bulawayo to meet the US group.  
“This is real jazz,” said Timothy Sekane after the show, “better than the Dave Brubeck band.” 
Also memorable was an impromptu saxophone conversation between visiting maestro Greg Ward and local saxophonist Vimbai  “V” Mukarati. There was real energy between them and I was sorry not to see more of that kind of interaction.
All in all , a fun night out and Jazz 105 a nice place to be. Jury is still out on the dining side though.  Judging by a busy Monday lunch, the week day buffet – beef, chicken, fish plus rice or sadza, green veg and salad (US$4/US$5) is popular and tasty. But, on a crowded night, its not so easy either to order, or to sit down and eat, though I did notice a couple of hungry musicians tucking into sadza and chicken.
So, still looking for the chill space in Harare and wishing I could hear the Chicago quartet again in the Mahogany Room Friday night.
– g.jeke@yahoo.com