Offshore Jazz Band

The Offshore Jazz Trio, comprising Jonno Sweetman on drums, Paul Gibbings on upright bass and Martin Wolfaardt on piano, have been working together on the Garden Route for about four years. This busy trio is also the core of a quartet featuring Martin van der Walt on saxophones, as well as a a vocal jazz quartet with Wendy Oldfield and they have done a series of collaborations with award-winning saxophonist Buddy Wells and the acclaimed Johannesburg-based guitarist Jonathan Crossley.  The trio is constantly seeking out new inspiration and expanding their range and repertoire to include traditional jazz standards, a smattering of bebop, Latin music, African jazz, fusion and a growing range of original compositions which reflect all of these influences plus a classical sensibility.

Offshore has released two albums – one as a trio, and the other with the Jonathan Crossley Electric Band. The trio album, "Too Many Names" (a translation of the exquisite poem “Demasiados Nombres” by the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda), was recorded in December 2006 and reflects on a year of inspirational encounters.  The album consists of predominantly original material, ranging from the Latin-influenced title track to the West African rhythms of “Tomboctou”, with counterpoint provided by the wistful elegy to Jonno Sweetman’s much-loved father, “Song for Bob”. 

Offshore had the privilege of working with Gary Wittner, a US Jazz guitarist considered to be the greatest living proponent of the music of Thelonius Monk on his instrument. Gary’s influence is present in his beautiful composition “Lonely Holiday” and his infectious love of Monk’s iconoclastic music is evident in the Offshore repertoire.  Sam Thomas, a highly accomplished North American saxophonist and PhD in ethnomusicology, sat in on a show in Plettenberg Bay while on holiday with his South African wife, and worked with the trio for a while thereafter, leaving an indelible imprint on the approach that the band takes to improvisation on the form.