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After Ike Moriz’s previous sell out shows at Cape Town’s prestigious Oude Libertas wine farm in Stellenbosch, the Ike Moriz Swing Band returned for a 2nd show in 2018 at the beautiful amphitheatre - only 9 months after their swing band hits concert in March.

One could still feel the excitement of the singer’s recent European tour reflecting in his performance of all time hits and audience favourites on this warm and lush summer’s evening in the picturesque winelands.

Dressed in the colours of Moriz’s latest album Millennium Hits 2002-2018, in white (first half) and red (second half) tuxedos, Ike was accompanied by his top notch band of session musicians lead by the incomparable sax and clarinet genius Willie van Zyl and inspired pianist, singer and songwriter Amanda Tiffin on grand piano.

In their dynamic, audience engaging performance the swing sextet played songs like Ike’s original tribute to the mother city, his bluesy anthem ’To Cape Town’ as well as his well-known swinging radio love song ‘Love Swings’ from his same titled 2015 album.

Moriz’s tradition of chosing great accompanying guitarists at previous Libertas shows (like legendary long time band member Alvin Dyers and UCT college professor Darryll Andrews) continued on this occasion with the debut of the experienced and charming guitar virtuoso Gary Deacon.  

Besides performing further original Moriz swing hits like ‘Feels Like France’, ‘Sofia’, ‘Siren Terpsichore’ or ‘Petite Madeleine’, the audience got to sing and clap along to classic popular evergreens like Dean Martin’s all time hit ‘Sway’, Sinatra’s golden chart toppers ’New York New York’, ‘Lady Is A Tramp’, ‘Come Fly With Me’, 'Fly Me To The Moon’ and ’That’s Life’.  

More current swing and pop was also part of this evening’s musical menu with a heartfelt rendition of John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’, Michael Bublé’s ‘Home’, ‘Everything’ and 'Quando Quando Quando’.  

The band’s expressive latin take on Weill/Brecht’s ‘Mack The Knife’ brought an upbeat South-American flair and groove particularly via the steady hand of drummer Ivan Bell - or was it the local Fleur Du Cap red and white wines that temporarily transformed the Cape of Good Hope into Cape Horn? What a great way to end the year!

After 2 hours of upbeat, romantic, melodic and heart-warming music that also included Nat King Cole’s L.O.V.E., Louis Armstrong’s ‘What a wonderful world’ and ‘Hello Dolly’, the enthusiastic Ike Moriz swing band left the stage to a standing ovation of a very appreciative and happy Stellenbosch crowd - soon to return to a stage near you! 

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