Tickets for the new-look Standard Bank Joy of Jazz – which takes place at the Sandton Convention Centre from September 25 to 27 – are selling fast.

The relocation to Sandton means that, for the first time, audiences have been able to buy a full festival pass on Friday, September 26, and Saturday, September 27, to the four main stages – Dinaledi, Conga, Diphala and Mbira – in line with jazz festivals around the globe. Ticket sales show that jazz lovers have embraced this change.

Ninety percent of the full weekend passes have already been sold. Sixty five percent of Saturdaypasses have been bought and more than 50 percent of Friday passes have been purchased by festivalgoers. Tickets to the opening night on the Dinaledi Stage are nearly sold out with three out of 17 hospitality suites still available.

Tickets are available at a 15 percent discount for all Standard Bank customers subject to availability and on presentation and usage of a valid Standard Bank debit, cheque and/or credit card at a Computicket outlet. The offer is limited to two tickets per person who meet the criteria. The offer is not available for online bookings. This discount is only available until August 31.

This year’s line-up is one of the best in years and features jazz giants from across the world – including four-time Grammy Award winner Dianne Reeves; National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis and South African musical legends Sibongile Khumalo and Jonas Gwangwa.  More than 75 performers are taking part. Others to look out for are British R&B legend Billy Ocean; this year’s Grammy recipient for Best Jazz Vocal Gregory Porter; trumpeter Roy Hargrove; Cameroon’s Richard Bona, Dwele from the US and Italian jazz singer and Grammy nominee Roberta Gambarini.

Event producer Peter Tladi of T-Musicman is delighted with ticket sales to date: “The decision to move to Sandton because of increasing audience numbers, and to change the date of the festival to a month later, has been embraced by jazz lovers. We have an incredible line-up of talent from both South Africa and around the globe and are confident that this year’s festival will be a sell-out and one of the best ever.”

Tickets for Standard Bank Joy of Jazz are available through Computicket and Shoprite Checkers. The festival pass allows patrons access to all four venues at a cost of R750 for a day pass and R1250 for a weekend pass; allowing patrons to see all 16 concerts each day.

The 2014 Standard Bank Joy of Jazz is produced by T-Musicman and brought to audiences by Standard Bank in association with the Department of Arts & Culture; the City of Joburg, Gauteng Province and South African Tourism.

{ Source http://www.joyofjazz.co.za/ }