South AfricaMail & Guardian1 d ago

‘There are no barriers in the music’: The Savoy Ellingtons and H.B. Barnum

Last month, a 90-year-old arranger who once worked alongside Aretha Franklin, Frank Sinatra and The Supremes stood in the Cradle of Humankind, a Unesco World Heritage Site in Gauteng, and conducted jazz. H.B. Barnum was in South Africa for the first time for the Our Origin Festival, held at Kromdraai Impact Hub in Krugersdorp from 16 to 18 October. With him were The Savoy Ellingtons, siblings Edward and April Ellington, who carry one of music’s heaviest surnames and were also making their South African debut. Barnum’s career spans some seven decades as a producer, arranger, composer and conductor. He became a Motown mainstay in the 1960s and spent 42 years as Aretha Franklin’s musical director.

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