The Vancouver International Jazz Festival announced its 2015 Vogue Theatre bookings this Wednesday (March 4), and buried in the news release was a hidden message: treat your volunteers well.

Along with nouveau-prog star Steven Wilson, funk-fusion revivalists Snarky Puppy, and the Bad Plus piano trio, the senior artist on the bill is South African pianist Abdullah Ibrahim, who’ll bring his Japanese-inspired Mukashi Trio to the Vogue on June 28.

His show is also the apex of the jazz festival’s South Africa Now! series, which artistic director Ken Pickering says is the direct result of Kim Jawanda having a good time while volunteering here some 15 years ago. Now living in Brooklyn and working with South Africa’s cultural ministry, Jawanda picked Vancouver first when it came time to export some of S.A.’s finest to Canada.

“She thought it would be a great idea if the festival could have a focused program on South African jazz,” Pickering told the Straight. “Two years in, we’ve now got the support to put on a great program with Abdullah as the pinnacle.”

Also appearing at venues around town are township jazz pioneer Louis Moholo, pianist Kyle Shepherd, songwriter Zaki Ibrahim, and R&B crossover act Freshlyground.