MZANTSI JAZZ AWARDS REBRANDS TO SOUTH AFRICA JAZZ AWARDS.

On a night dedicated to celebrating their 10th anniversary, the Mzantsi Jazz Awards not only focused on issuing the awards for this year’s winners.
They also took an opportunity to mark the beginning of the the new decade by launching a rebrand of the premier Jazz brand.
The Mzantsi Jazz Awards are now called the South Africa Jazz Awards, therefore owning their place on the South African and global landscape.
They did not completely abandon the Mzantsi Jazz Awards name as they tag it to the new name where relevant as “Affectionately Known as the Mzantsi Jazz Awards”

“It was always the South Africa Jazz Awards, however we needed to speak first to South Africans in the language the people understand. After all Mzantsi means South, in isiXhosa language.” said founder and MD, Dr Mongezi Makhalima.

“Rebranding is a risky move in any given situation. In our case the end of of a decade represented as good a time as any to transition into our global positioning as a premier global brand with Africa as a springboard.” Dr Makhalima continued.

The rebrand was accompanied by a presentation of the very first Best African Jazz Album/Artist, a public category sponsored by PF Music in Nigeria.
The Award was won by Dotun Bankole in a category that featured Jazz musicians from Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Ghana and South Africa.