Jaconell Mouton mostly works behind the scenes, but this talented musician deserves her place in the spotlight. Yolanda Wessels went to find out what she is up to these days.
Jaconell grew up on a farm near the Cederberge as the eldest of three children. Her sister is three years younger and helps children with learning difficulties. “She is the most incredible mother I have ever seen in action. My brother, two years younger than my sister, is a born farmer.”
Jaconell says that farming is in her blood. “I love walking around barefoot in the sand. I always thought I wanted to farm because I love nature and the outdoors so much. If I had known then what it really meant to farm, I would not have considered it.”
She says that apart from farm life, she only had music on her mind. Her father farmed during the week, but at weekends he played bass guitar and organ in a music group and performed at rural functions and dances. “My dreams have always been about music. You just want to push yourself and do a better job every time. I’m at my happiest when I’m on stage and participating in a performance of music that I really like.”
At the age of four, Jaconell began playing by ear and at the age of eight began taking music lessons to read music. “In grade 5 I participated in an art competition and the judge told my mother that she should send me for further training. In grade 6 I took music lessons for a year in Stellenbosch with Sanita van der Merwe, before I started taking lessons in grade 7 with the late Juliana de Villiers at Stellenbosch University.”
After matriculating at Stellenbosch High School, she went on to study music at Pretoria Technikon and stayed in the city of Jakaranda. Here she started working as a freelance musician during her studies. She mostly plays piano and keyboard. Jaconell also played saxophone and trumpet in high school, but her favorite is piano.
Jaconell says that as a young player she loved Mozart, Chopin, Rachmaninov and Liszt. “But listening, I grew up with Abba, Neil Diamond and 80’s pop and rock, that’s what I listened to as a kid. Now one of my favorite composers is Dave Grusin. He is generally one of my favorite musicians of all time. He is an incredible composer, arranger and player. All in one. I can listen to him at any time of the day or night.” She says she doesn’t really listen to much music.
“When I work with music all day, I mostly prefer silence when I’m not working. I prefer nature sounds. When I do listen, it depends on how I feel. Sometimes I listen to 80’s rock music, sometimes easy listening music and sometimes jazz. I don’t really have a fixed answer to something I always fall back on. It depends on the moment I find myself in.”
Some of the productions that Jaconell was a part of include television productions such as Idols, Note for note, Music Roulette, In the spotlight. She works a lot on albums, where she is sometimes a producer and sometimes a session musician. She has been involved in many live productions and has worked with many different artists on solo shows and in group shows.
“I was also part of the Dave Koz Cruise last year and was asked to be part of it again this year. There I do solo shows and also work on other productions where I am sometimes only booked as a musician and in other productions I am music director.”
She composes herself as with the film music for Send greetings to Mannetjies Roux. Her other music is not really commercial. On occasion she writes with people such as when she produces albums for artists.
One of her highlights was playing on Dave Koz’s “A Prayer For Peace” which appears on his 2019 album. Afterwards she shared a stage with him, Candy Dulfer, Mindi Abair, Kenny Lattimore, and a bunch of others when they did a show on the main stage of the Dave Koz Cruise. “Sometimes there are highlights on small shows just because it’s such a wonderful experience. So the show was with Anna Davel in Bloemfontein which was just magical. The environment, the music, the feeling, just everything… I will never forget it.
The same experience is also always present with Lize Beekman. It’s almost a ‘holy feeling’ when we do a show together.”
And one of her biggest highlights as an arranger is to be part of a project that is currently in the making. “I was asked to do arrangements that were recorded with a live symphony orchestra in Budapest, as well as a rhythm section in Los Angeles. Some of the names involved are giants in the industry who have a very “humbling” and blessed experience is. I am also busy with the Joy or Jazz in Johannesburg with Wouter Kellerman, performances with Anna Davel in Cape Town and a workshop on production for the Music Indaba.” She also worked on music for the opening of the World Cup sevens in Cape Town in December. Furthermore, she is also involved in a project for the British singer, Jonathan Antoine.
“There are so many people who inspire me. Anyone who makes a contribution while living as close as possible to their own truth, and does so without apology, is an inspiration to me. Jeremy Lubbock is my work inspiration. His creations were phenomenal and as an arranger he was always in the background. Even though he was often the person who made the biggest contribution to certain songs, very few people in the public ever knew that. Mothers also inspire me. I have so many friends who are mothers and see them give up so many things to make sure their children have the best possible opportunities. In my eyes, they are absolute heroes.”
Jaconell says that she is a complete workaholic and her free time is when she physically decides not to work and to visit friends or spend time in nature. “I’m actually always on standby. If one does freelance work and dreams of achieving better and bigger things every year, then you must be open to any opportunity that may come your way and seize it. Sometimes there are occasions when you may wonder if you are up to what is coming your way. Such a highlight was when Dave Koz asked me to do my own show and also to be music director for a few concerts on his annual Dave Koz Cruise. The icing on the cake was when I ended up on the main stage behind the keyboard with all the big names at short notice.”
One of Jaconell’s dreams is to play on a stage like Wembley Stadium. “I would really like to be on stage with P!NK, that’s how I would like to have the ‘big stage experience’. I love her energy and she is a natural and very good musician.”
Jaconell’s house is in a few places. “Home is where my heart is and it’s with my special someone in Johannesburg. Home is where my work or my stage is, and it can be anywhere in the world at any given moment. Last year it was in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Stellenbosch, Paternoster, Los Angeles and Hawaii. Home is where I breathe deeply and smell nature, as I remember it from childhood and it is on the farm near the Cederberge.”
