The children of jazz legend Duke Ellington, The Savoy Ellingtons, will perform in South Africa for the Our Origin Festival this month, alongside 90-year-old music industry veteran H.B. Barnum.
The internationally acclaimed brother-and-sister duo, April Ellington and Edward Ellington Jr will join an already star-studded line-up at the festival, which takes place from 16 to 18 October 2026 at the Kromdraai Impact Hub in the Cradle of Humankind.
The festival organisers have described The Savoy Ellingtons as heirs to the jazz legacy of their father, the legendary American composer and bandleader Duke Ellington. The duo have spent more than four decades performing internationally and are known for their jazz, blues, sacred and bossa nova repertoire.
They will be accompanied by Barnum, the veteran pianist, arranger, producer, composer and musical director whose career spans more than seven decades.
Barnum, who was born in 1936, is currently 90 and has worked with artists including Aretha Franklin, Frank Sinatra, The Jackson 5, The Supremes, The Temptations, Count Basie, Lou Rawls and Mariah Carey, among others.
According to information supplied by the festival, Barnum served as Aretha Franklin’s musical conductor, arranger and musical director for more than four decades and has been associated with The Savoy Ellingtons for decades. A 2026 event celebrating the Ellington legacy in Memphis also identified Barnum as the duo’s longtime musical conductor.
The appearance is expected to add a major international jazz component to Our Origin, which will bring together music, Indigenous knowledge, ceremony, science, storytelling and environmental action at the Cradle of Humankind.
The festival’s current line-up also includes TRESOR, Bongeziwe Mabandla, Buhlebendalo, Tubatsi Mpho Moloi and Sibusile Xaba.
The three-day event is being positioned as the South African anchor gathering for the wider ORIGIN movement, a global initiative centred on humanity’s shared origins and collective responsibility for the future.
Festival organisers say the Cradle of Humankind was deliberately chosen as the location because of its significance as one of the world’s most important archaeological sites and a place associated with the deep history of human evolution.
The main festival day will be Saturday, 17 October, culminating in a synchronised global event at 9pm South African time.
At that time, participants at the Cradle will join gatherings around the world for what organisers are calling the Global Moment of Unity. Indigenous Elders from 15 nations are expected to guide a collective prayer for Mother Earth before participants join the Anthem for Mother Earth.
The programme will extend beyond music, with organisers promising Indigenous and First Nations wisdom-sharing, visionary talks, intergenerational dialogue, storytelling, drumming circles, children’s activities, regenerative workshops and tree planting.
The festival will also feature a live international broadcast connecting the South African gathering with ORIGIN participants in other parts of the world.
Festival director Keamo Rakgoadi said the event was intended to use the Cradle of Humankind as a starting point for a global conversation.
“The Cradle of Humankind is more than a venue, it is a symbol of our shared beginnings,” said Rakgoadi.
Rakgoadi said the festival was an invitation for people to recognise their shared humanity and reconnect with one another and the Earth.
The festival website lists H.B. Barnum and The Savoy Ellingtons among the headline performers, with more artists still to be announced.
Tickets start at R500, with options also available for weekend camping and glamping packages.
The festival’s organisers say the ultimate message behind the gathering is captured in its slogan: “One humanity, one planet, one future.”
