IN PICS | Black Coffee, good food and all that jazz

To headline a concert at the world’s most famous arena is no small feat.

And when you opt to use the occasion to open the way for others to join you on that Madison Square Garden stage, it speaks to your generosity.

Then again, Nkosinathi Maphumulo (the world knows him better as Black Coffee) is no ordinary artist — he’s the first African DJ to win a Grammy, has exec produced superstar rapper Drake’s most recent album and is one of the world’s top touring DJs.

To celebrate the occasion of Black Coffee performing in New York on October 7, our greatest musical export, along with Castle Lite, hosted an official send-off party this week.

It took place on Thursday afternoon in Fourways, Joburg, at a venue called Altitude Beach, which sports a central water feature, sunbeds and tons of trucked in beach sand, swapped on the day for fake snow to reflect the beer brand’s “extra cold” pay-off line.

Arriving not long after the doors opened at 4pm, I meet Shaka iLembe actor Senzo Radebe among a handful of guests mulling around.

And I catch sight of the back of the man of the hour as he and his crew, including his buddy DJ Shoba (one of those who will also play on the MSG stage), slip out of the venue after an earlier press conference.

Learning that they’re only due back in a couple of hours when BC hits the decks, the prospect of staring at a fake beach in the meantime has zero appeal.

So, it’s 13km down the newly renamed Winnie Mandela Drive I go to Nelson Mandela Square, where restaurant group La Parada is opening the doors to their latest flagship.

Unlike tweeps on Elon Musk’s social media platform, I’ve long been a fan of the tapas-inspired menu of this Spanish-inspired culinary foodie group.

The launch drew a mix of business folk, celebs and influencers such as lawyer turned podcaster Reece Naidoo and his content creator friend Asha Singh, who came suitably dressed to the night’s Great Gatsby theme.

We all get to pick from the eatery’s very reasonably priced menu, and I quite enjoy the small plates of flame-grilled beef fillet with truffle butter, crispy calamari salad and Wagyu beef potstickers (yes, they’re not Spanish but Asian, but super delish).

A drink at the bar in the restaurant’s sultry speakeasy-style lounge area before it’s time to head back to Fourways to witness Black Coffee wow the crowd with his distinctive house meets African percussion style.

Inside, I catch up with Banyana Banyana goalie Andile Dlamini.

“We need someone like Black Coffee to inspire our country. Music unites, it connects,” she says.

On stage, near where Nathi is spinning his tunes, I recognise his childhood mates Mnqobi “Shota” Mdabe and Siyanda Makanya, who once told me about how in their youth the trio would walk for miles to watch in awe as DJs performed in their Eastern Cape hometown.

And among the mostly blokes-who-drink-lager crowd, I spot Bongani Mohosana (Murdah Bongz) and actor Ntokozo Dlamini.

Enjoying the music from the comfort of a booth was singer Nhlanhla Mafu, while bopping in the VIP section was Gqom and amapiano queen Busiswa Gqulu, who quips that she’s happy to pose for a pic as long as we don’t ask any questions about who she is dating.

I cheekily suggest she could tell us instead how many kilos she’s lost (the My Power singer’s curves have also been a hot topic on the “interwebs”).

“Kuningi! Kuningi! Kuningi!” comes her reply.

If your taste leans more towards a musical form hard to pin down when it comes to timbres, pitch changes and style but which nonetheless soothes our ears, you would have wanted to be at the Sandton Convention Centre on Friday and Saturday evenings for the the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz.

The 24th edition of the country’s premier jazz festival was held in association with TimesLIVE and the Sowetan newspaper, with a line-up including Grammy-winners Swiss harpist Andreas Vollenweider and pianist Robert Glasper, KZN- born Ernie Smith, crooner Langa Mavuso and divas Zonke, Simphiwe Dana and Zoe Modiga.

On Friday night I scored an invite to hang out in a VIP room with top brass from the company that owns this newspaper.

Arena Holdings’ suite, which included booths for the Sunday Times Lifestyle supplement, Wanted magazine and Sowetan’s S Mag, was in the Bill Gallagher wing of the convention centre.

Heading inside, I spot Arena chair Tshepo Mahloele and his wife Dolly welcoming political heavyweights such as Kgalema Motlanthe, there with his spouse Gugu Mtshali, and our affable minister of sports, arts & culture, Zizi Kodwa.

This was a week of hanging out with men who own Grammys, and in the room I also catch up with flautist Wouter Kellerman who was there with his manager Tholsi Pillay.

They share details of their recent trip to Dar es Salaam to shoot a music video for Wouter’s most recent collab, this time with East African mega-star Diamond Platnumz.

I am itching to check out the scene in another VIP spot so I sneak into the entourage led by Tshepo  and Zizi as they make their way to the Standard Bank’s snazzy room nearby.

This space was a lot more fun (and dare I say, more glam) than the Arena offering, with guests including Anglo American chair Nolitha Fakude, Tourvest’s Judi Nwokedi and travel boss Johanna Makgalemele.

I had been hoping to chat to the blue bank’s head Sim Tshabalala, but instead I get to meet two of his senior officials — Kenny Fihla, who was shooting the breeze with Joy of Jazz founder Peter Tladi, and Margaret Nienaber, the Standard Bank Group’s COO.