Carla Stokes

Carla Stokes is a professional saxophonist, DJ, session musician, producer, and live music provider from Cape Town, South Africa. From age eight, she dedicated herself to music, beginning with classical and jazz on clarinet, piano, and saxophone. She earned a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Performance from the University of Cape Town in 2018, majoring in saxophone, and a Postgraduate Certificate in Education in Music in 2019. She's been a gigging musician since age fifteen, with over a decade of experience. Carla has performed in various bands around Cape Town, including The UCT Big Band, The UCT Alumni Big Band, The Mike Campbell Big Band, Los Tacos, Crimson House, Melorie Jane Quintet, Dandy and the Kicks, and Red Cello’s CODA Africa. Her performances span traditional big bands, combo jazz bands, pop, solo saxophone, as well as DJ-ing and playing saxophone at the same time. In 2019, she performed at The Cape Town International Jazz Festival with the Lady Day Big Band, and in 2017 and 2018 at the Standard Bank National Jazz Festival with the UCT Big Band.

While studying, she taught music part-time alongside managing her gigs. Today, she performs at corporate functions, weddings, and other events as a solo saxophonist, DJ and bandleader. Notable corporate clients include Porsche Club South Africa, DRA Global, Savanna Cider, L’Oreal Paris, and Skin Ceuticals. Her performances have been at iconic venues like The Twelve Apostles Hotel and Spa, The Zeitz Mocaa Museum, The V&A Waterfront Amphitheatre, Harrington’s Cocktail Lounge, Hotel Sky, The Grand Beach Cafe, Groot Constantia, Constantia Glen Wine Estate, CTICC, and Media 24.

Carla has released three self-produced original singles on all streaming platforms, which fuse jazz saxophone with electronic music. She hopes her music offers a "sonic escape" and leaves listeners feeling uplifted. She also worked part-time at Quiet Life Co for two years (alongside her gigging career), a music agency and record label, developing skills in label and artist management, music publishing, distribution (Platoon, DMG, Distrokid), product management, metadata, and pitching to digital streaming platforms. Carla manages her own career as a musician as well as her agency, called “Stokes Music”, providing live acts for events and managing herself and other musicians. She has built an extensive network of musicians, producers, sound engineers, photographers, videographers, and industry professionals. Carla wears many hats in her career, bringing passion and a wealth of experience as a versatile musician in various avenues within the music industry.