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Concert
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When:
25/11/2008 at 08:00 pm
Where:
Komedia
Brighton,
United Kingdom
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If you are an acoustic guitar fan, you would be crazy to miss out on this one-night-only performance featuring South African legend Tony Cox and one of Canada's finest, Ryan le Blanc.
SOUTH AFRICA
Against all odds, in a country that has struggled through the deprivations of apartheid and had very little time and money for its home-grown musicians, acoustic guitarist Tony Cox has managed through sheer persistence and dedication to his craft, to carve out a singular niche for himself in South Africa. A genre of one; as one South African journalist calls it: Southern African, Acoustic, Instrumental, Fingerstyle, Guitar Music. Others simply slot him under the ‘World’ music label.
Born in Zimbabwe, Cox moved with his family to South Africa in the late sixties having absorbed and assimilated the traditional African styles of his birthplace that were a constant source of inspiration and delight to him. This grounding in the African way of creating music stayed with him throughout the plethora of influences to come from the rest of the world that began in earnest when the family settled in Cape Town, home of many superb musicians. Over the years the guitarist adopted an eclectic approach to his own personal compositional style; seeing very little worth in confining himself to a particular genre beyond the immediately commercial which anyway, was never a factor in his growth as a musician. Many years before it became acceptable for a white boy to outwardly demonstrate a love for African music and indeed dangerous to do so, all his early compositions were infused with an African flavour.
Inspired greatly by the human condition, Cox wrote many songs with powerful anti-apartheid themes, such as The Lions’ Roar about the inevitable retribution that would befall the then South African government; or the Easy See, a song about avoiding being conscripted into the SA army at all costs. Of-course these songs and many others were never allowed to be heard on the radio back home but nonetheless, that did not stop Cox from belting them out at every performance, invoking some strong and sometimes violent reactions from conservative whites in his audience.
Eventually Cox’s love of the guitar won out and he dropped singing altogether to concentrate on writing instrumental music for the acoustic guitar. The themes though are still deeply connected to the human condition and are reflected in tunes like Jambanja a very recent composition, the title being the Shona word that Robert Mugabe’s war veterans use to chant as they descend on farms in order to enact what the word means: to turn everything upside-down. The piece itself is a breathtaking and relentless barrage of angry and insistent fingerpicking only a master of the craft would be able to deliver. Before you get to thinking though that it is all deeply serious work, Cox has a dry and wicked sense of humour; he is a superb entertainer and often has his audiences in stitches.
In his time as a recording artist, Cox has won three South African music awards, all in the ‘best instrumental’ category. It is a category he seems to dominate in the country. He now resides in the UK, tours world-wide as a solo artist and has recently released an album in Canada where he performs regularly.
CANADA
Ryan LeBlanc is a progressive solo instrumentalist from New Brunswick. Ryan interlaces guitar, djembe, harmonica, cajun and banjo to produce a wide variety of upbeat and passionate musical pieces.
Ryan is known for his innovative combinations of percussive and alternative musical styles that give his compositions an extremely earthy and organic quality. A one man band. Whole rooms often stop to watch Ryans unique strumming, hammering and tapping techniques that he combines with spellbinding percussive slaps to the body of his guitar and adjacent djembe. His performance is truly memorable.
In Sydney, Cape Breton, at the East Coast Music Awards he showcased in the Roots Room and had three standing ovations in a 20 minute set! During Stanfest in 2005, he shared the stage with acoustic blues powerhouse, Matt Andersen and J.P. Cormier, Canadas premier multi-instrumentalist. Ryan has also showcased at Montreal Jazz and Blues Festival, Stan Rogers, North American Folk Alliance in Texas, Les Nuits Acadienne in Paris, France, Confederation Centre, PEI, Canadian Music Week, Playhouse Theatre in Fredicton with Allison Brown and Oliver Jones, and Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival in Fredericton.
With up to three instruments being played simultaneously, this musical experience is truly captivating and perfectly compliments this aspiring artists talents. His first album, Down Deep, was released in 2005. His second alblum, Against the Grain, brought him a 2007 ECMA nomination for Instrumental Recording of the Year. Catch him if you can. You wont be disappointed.
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