South African Guitarist Derek Gripper Translates Kora and J.S. Bach, In-Studio
South African guitar virtuoso Derek Gripper plays music originally meant for the 21 stringed lute-harp, the kora, on his 6-string Segovia-styled guitar and does it so well that the world’s leading guitarists and kora players keep wondering how one even does that. His original music is informed by kora master Toumani Diabaté, Malian singer-songwriter Salif Keita, Estonian minimalist composer Arvo Part, Brazilian guitarist Egberto Gismonti and German Baroque innovator, J.S. Bach. Watch out, because he’s about to collaborate with the Iraqi-American oud player and composer Rahim Alhaj. (Ed. note: just wait until the 11 or 13-strings of the oud and those maqams make it to the 6-string guitar in Gripper's hands!) For now, Gripper plays another unbelievable arrangement of a Malian kora song, as well as an original song informed by the cascading style of kora music, plus the Prelude of the second cello suite by J.S. Bach, in-studio. - Caryn Havlik
Supplemental Reading: The Beauty of Everyday Things, In Search of Lost Time
Set list: 1. Alla L'a Ke 2. Moss on the Mountain 3. J.S. Bach: Prelude BWV 1008 (Second Cello Suite)
