Whelan Jansen’s Night With The Stars

When I recently met up with piano man Whelan Jansen and vocalist Virgil Williams, we agreed that bruinou.com should rather first attend their upcoming concert and then do a review instead of us writing about it beforehand.
Well I’m just too excited because as soon as they left, I vividly recollected the first time I heard Whelan play.

I met Whelan at one of the jam sessions I host every summer which introduces live bands and Hip Hop artists to each other and letting them come up with impromptu collaborations.

Him being one of the first guests to arrive on our first night of the 2013 sessions, we had an opportunity to introduce ourselves and chat.
He insisted that though he does play piano, he didn’t see himself as all that great, and he was only there to check out how these jam sessions work.

Somehow in that first conversation I already knew this young man is serious about his musical future.
Two weeks later he was there again and this time, a few of his friends happened to take to the stage and they called him up.
When he touched those keys, I was blown away by all the natural talent he displayed and having seen a fair share of talented piano players I knew that this is someone the music world should be taking note of, and they are.

Counting David foster as his main role model among the many composers and arrangers who inspire him, Whelan’s technical prowess belies the fact that he is entirely self-taught and has had no formal training whatsoever.
He however intends broadening his musical horizon by enrolling at an advanced music school that will eventually lead to him studying towards a degree in music.
This will not only enhance his career but it will also enable him to better pass on his skills to the next generation of young musicians.

On 8 November 2014 Whelan will be hosting A Night With The Stars at The Cape Peninsula University of Technology Auditorium which brings together some of the Cape Flats professional musicians and bands who Whelan has had the pleasure of working with these past two years and who are all currently making their own waves on the live music scene.
The event will have Eugene Mathews as the host MC and feature performances by Alistar Finger, August Van Der Westhuizen, Liesl Katzen, The Jappie Stars dance droup and the very entertaining Virgil Williams who audiences across the Western Cape are becoming quite endeared to.
A highlight of the evening will be performances by the phenomenal Ronald Jones & his band RJ On The Move of which Whelan happens to be the main man on the keys.

A portion of the proceeds will go towards buying Whelan a much needed top of the range electronic stage piano as his talent has far outgrown the one he currently owns and he sometimes has to hire a piano good enough to produce the required audio quality for his shows.
We at bruinou.com extend our well-wishes to him and all his fellow musicians who are helping him in this endeavour.

Whelan, Virgil and their band having some fun doing a live remix of the Afrikaans song Jy Is Die Een

Tickets for the event are selling fast as the auditorium has limited seating and no tickets will be sold at the door.
If you are lucky you could still get yourself some tickets by contacting Whelan or any of the featured artists.

Doors at the CPUT auditorium open at 19H00 for 19H30 and tickets are all presold at R100.
You can contact Whelan Jansen on 071 299 2676 or email him on whelanjansen@live.com

Whelan in rehearsal a few months ago with RJ On The Move

Whelan performing with Clint Viljoen at the GrandWest Casino Jackson Hall