Fundraising Performance

The Karoo Lamb Restaurant Presents

 A New Cape Records Production

DEREK GRIPPER (Guitar) and UDAI MAZUMDAR (Tabla)

Live in Nieu Bethesda

In Support of the Lettie de Klerk Primary School Arts Project

South African guitarist Derek Gripper and Indian tabla master Udai Mazumdar began their collaboration with a spontaneous performance in a Basel (Switzerland) jazz club in 2009. They met again in 2010 to perform in the Western Cape of South Africa, and to record their CD "Rising," an epic exploration of the possibilities presented by the combination of a highly original guitar style, and the language of the Classical Indian "tabla," a set of two drums played by the hands and capable of a wide range of pitches and sounds. Their subsequent work together has initiated a cross-cultural dialogue of spontaneous music-making combining the complex rhythmic structures of Indian classical music with the sounds of Malian kora, African guitar, contemporary Brazilian music, Western Cape Koortjie, and the techniques of classical guitar. Udai's many years of study and performances with some of India's greatest musicians (including Pandit Ravi Shankar and Zakir Hussain), and Derek's "New Cape" guitar music make for an unlikely combination, but the musical affinity between these highly trained and perfectly matched musicians speaks for itself. 

Their 2011 tour sees Derek and Udai collaborating with a diverse array of musicians at different points in their schedule. In KZN they play with acoustic guitar wizard Guy Buttery, in Johannesburg they team up with trumpet legend Marcus Wyatt, and in Pretoria they perform a double bill with Greg Georgiades and Ashish Joshi. After duo shows in Swaziland, PE, Grahamstown, and Cape Town they will continue their collaboration with shows in Switzerland, accompanied by classical Indian vocalist and harmonium player Piu Nandi. The South African leg of Udai and Derek's tour is sponsored by Pro Helvetia with the help of Arts On Main. 

This dynamic duo will be performing at the Karoo Lamb Restaurant in Nieu Bethesda on Thursday, the 21^st of April for a brief stopover gig between their PE and Cape Town performances. A percentage of all proceeds (door and CD sales) will be donated to the Lettie De Klerk Primary School Arts Project.

Entrance for the performance is R60. Food and drinks will be available.

The Karoo Lamb Restaurant is diagonally across from the historic Owl House on New Street, Nieu Bethesda. For more information and to book please call Katrien on 072 742 7113.

For more information and to order their CD visit www.newcape.co.za, the home of Cape Town's New Cape Records. New Cape's catalogue will be on sale at all shows for the discount price of R100.