Slow Life presents the ultimate collaboration, Derek Gripper and Guy Buttery in Concert at The Olympia Bakery, Kalk Bay

ABOUT

Long-time friends, collaborators and leading exponents of the acoustic guitar scene in South Africa, Derek Gripper and Guy Buttery come together for a short run of shows through the Western Cape. Their first recorded outing was captured in Cape Town in an improvised live concert recording. First heard as an exclusive premiere on NPR's "New Sounds" radio show, the album received rave reviews the world over.

Derek Gripper is known for his ground-breaking technique for evoking the West African kora on the guitar. He has transcribed the complex music of Malian kora player Toumani Diabaté and infuses his interpretations of Bach’s music with lessons from the oral traditions of Africa. He has performed with Toumani Diabaté’s Symmetric Orchestra and classical guitar legend John Williams, and tours worldwide. It took Derek Gripper untold hours of painstaking work to transcribe note-for-note the complex compositions of Malian kora player Toumani Diabaté and find a way of playing them on six-string guitar. The results appeared on his ninth album, “One Night on Earth.” The album created an unprecedented meeting point between the written tradition of Western classical music and the oral tradition of the West African griots. Critical acclaim was quick to follow. Classical guitar legend John Williams said he thought it was “absolutely impossible until I heard Derek Gripper do it.”

“Guy Buttery is something of a National treasure”, says South Africa’s leading newspaper. As an internationally recognised musician, this multi-instrumentalist enjoys invitations to play sell-out performances all over the globe. The USA, UK, Australia, France, Brazil, and Italy have all welcomed him back year after year. However, to simply label Guy Buttery as one of South Africa’s musical phenoms would be an injustice. His international role has surpassed merely performing concerts to foreign audiences. It has evolved into one as an ambassador of South African music, inspiring people across the world with his homegrown style at the very heart of his talent and tenacity. Guy’s distinct unification of South African guitar music is the musical advocate for everything positive and beautiful about the place he calls home. In 2018, Guy received the highest accolade for a musician in South Africa and was awarded the Standard Bank Young Artist Award. In almost 4 decades of honouring artist throughout the country, this was the first time since its inception that the award was presented to a musician outside of the classical realm.

Derek and Guy’s partnering is something of a melting pot of South African and Eastern influences crafted by two of the finest visionaries to emerge from the tip of the continent in decades. Due to the pandemic, this is the first time they have played together since the release of their duo album. Not to be missed. 

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