The Base was a popular nightclub at 88 Shortmarket Street in Cape Town’s historical city centre. It opened on 19 August 1987. Shortly afterwards, the venue launched a popular Sunday evening jazz slot known as the Jazz Den, which operated during the tumultuous final decade of apartheid, a period of heightened civil unrest and state repression in South Africa.
The venue was open to musicians and party-goers of all races, a rarity in this segregated society.Musically, the Base/Jazz Den was a liberated zone. It provided a platform for professional musicians and DJs working across a wide range of musical styles, including punk, folk, hip hop, rhythm & blues and, occasionally, heavy metal, as well as homegrown genres like Mbaqanga, Mbube, Afro jazz and boere rock.
The Base/Jazz Den truly was a venue for everyone, including disco girls, homeboys, Rastas, jazz-heads, goths and punks.
Awesome small and beautiful photo-zine. 36 pages, staple-bound.
100% ESSENTIAL!
Ships in about a week