I had the most wonderful evening last Sunday while visiting the Casa Labia in Muizenberg. I had visited the venue twice before, to view art, and always thought it was a lovely site. Proud upon the hills of Muizenberg, with views across False Bay, the setting is gorgeous – never mind the interior.
Last Sunday my Mom and I went to watch my brother play with the Gavin Minter Septet. I knew it would be an enjoyable evening, I had not anticipated sitting in a ‘new’ room (new to me) and listening to the sweet, dreamy sounds of vocal jazz.
The Casa Labia celebrates Venetian art and interior design. Somehow this had NEVER been made obvious to me! And since returning from Venice last month from honeymoon, for the second time, it was an absolute JOY to sit in a Venetian styled concert room.
We arrived at 5:30pm so that we could enjoy our welcome drink and mingle before the start of the concert.
The sun was setting and as it was cooling down we moved inside. The concert room was set and ready to welcome the musicians.
Not to forget to mention that the room was exquisite with material walls, decorative ceilings and luminescent chandeliers.
My brother played host for the evening, welcoming everyone and introducing the band and the special musicians who were performing that evening.
The Gavin Minter Septet played timeless American songbook classics such as Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Lady is a Tramp, S’Wonderful, to name a few in swing and bossa nova styles. The band included Gavin Minter – Vocals, Andrew Lilley – Piano, Charles Lazar – Double Bass, Kevin Gibson – Drums, Buddy Wells – Tenor Saxophone and Flute, Dan Shout – Alto Saxophone and Clarinet and Marco Maritz – Trumpet and Flugelhorn.
After the first set, we moved into the dining room and enjoyed “gourmet street food”. It was enjoyable, but I think one of the cooks accidentally knocked over their salt shaker into the pulled pork because the salt nearly blew my head off! LOL! Good thing there was wine at the ready for me to cleanse my palate 😉 
We then moved back into the concert room to enjoy the band’s second set. It was a wonderful concert even though I was about 20 years younger than everyone else! What a pity. The music was really accessible and I loved listening to the live band.
To end the evening, we were told about the next few concerts coming up including the formidable Frode Nymo live in Cape Town next weekend.
If you’d like to visit Casa Labia for their summer concert series, visit the Casa Labia Facebook page for further information. Tickets cost R250 per person and include the welcome drink and gourmet street food in between sets. A cash bar is also available. Book through Casa Labia Cultural Centre on 021 788 6068 or email events@casalabia.co.za
