Derek Gripper (South Africa)

On tour with Paolo Angeli

A genre-defying double bill of daring contrast and brilliant beauty.

​

For over ten years guitarist Derek Gripper has produced some of South Africa’s most extraordinary musical works by fusing the country’s disparate creative traditions with styles throughout the world. His music draws on European classical traditions, avant-garde Brazilian works, Malian kora works, Cape Town’s folk styles, and even Indian classical music, all the while synthesizing them into a style uniquely his own. Widely lauded for his recent exploration of Mali’s greatest kora players, Toumani Diabaté and Ballaké Sissoko, alongside the music of guitarist Ali Farka Touré, Gripper creates a new form of classical guitar music out of some of Africa’s richest musical heritage.