A decade later, Jephta’s ‘Homecoming’ reborn

WHEN artist Benjamin Jephta steps onto the stage at this year’s Cape Town International Jazz Festival (CTIJF), it won’t be just another gig.

- VERNA VAN DER RIEMEN

It’ll be like a “homecoming” to a body of work that shaped the bassist and composer, and to a place that long served as a creative crossroads for artists from across the world.

“The festival has become this meeting place and, in a sense, a watering hole where all these artists come together,” says Jephta. “Some of the artists we know from online – it’s such a global thing – and then we actually meet face-to-face, music and we get inspired by each other.”

The CTIJF is scheduled for Friday and Saturday, April 25 and 26, at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC).

This year Jephta returns with Kunenga, a dynamic Cape Town-based band, to perform a reimagined version or homecoming, his debut album from 2015.

“I released Homecoming 10 years ago,” he explains. “Now, we’re revisiting the music in a new format. We want to studio to re-record and reimagine it – the plan is to release it later this year.”

The collaboration with Kunenga brings a fresh energy to the music, but the link runs deeper than just musical chemistry.