He is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist,
mainly known for playing the accordion, born in Elsie's River, Cape Province
in South Africa as the youngest of eight children.He began his life in music as a
singer and accordion player in his local church youth choir and then he
began playing the trumpet when he was at high school.He performed in concert with many
of the artists in his local area and in the early 1980s he moved to
Gaberone in Botswana.Here he
became a member of the musical Amandla and with them he internationally
toured and when he got to London he stayed and became acquainted with other
musicians that were South African ex-pats.He formed the group Kintone in 1985 and built up a good
fan base in England, recording two albums.In 1986 he went back to South Africa, subsequently touring
Africa with the Buwa project and while in Zimbabwe he was invited to
join Paul
Simon's
tour band.He stayed with the touring band
from 1987 to 1992 covering both the Graceland tour and the Born at
the Right Time tour and then in 1993 appeared with Simon
& Garfunkel
in Concert of a Lifetime.1993 saw him then touring with Harry Belafonte and also
releasing his own solo album.He
has now settled in Brooklyn, New York, as a much sought after session
musician. Through
the course of his international career he has performed with artists
such as Joan
Baez
,
Tony Bird, Chris Botti, Miriam Makeba, Ziggy Marley, Hugh Masakela, Pharaoh
Sanders and many more. A very few
of the albums he has appeared on during the course of his career include his
own Visions Over People as well as Far Side of the World by Jimmy
Buffett
, Two Worlds One Heart by Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Concert
in the Park by Paul
Simon and the compilations Blue Note Salutes
Motown and Divine Divas: A World of Women's Voices.
