With musical gestures that traverse an emotional range from Hendrix to Bach, THE SOUND OF WATER takes the listener on a journey that transcends the accepted notions of what a guitar can do.
Fresh from a twelve city tour of Switzerland and an intense three days of recording in Knysna with award winning sound engineer Howard Butcher, Cape Town composer-guitarist Derek Gripper launches his latest album, The Sound of Water, with a concert at the Newlands Sufi Temple on Sunday October 9th at 7pm.
This will be the first in a series of concerts to promote Gripper’s powerful recording, which juxtaposes his multi-layered compositions for solo guitar and voice with compositions by iconic Brazilian composer and multi-instrumentalist Egberto Gismonti.
“The Gismonti tracks on this recording represent some of my all-time favourite music, so bringing these unique and awe-inspiring works to life on a single guitar was a hugely rewarding process which challenged me to dig as deeply into the guitar’s resources as I was able.”
<a href=”http://newcape.bandcamp.com/track/copenhagen” _mce_href=”http://newcape.bandcamp.com/track/copenhagen”>Copenhagen by Derek Gripper</a>
From Joni, the expansive 15 minute opening track, to the explosive bass of Dance of the Heads, the hushed, jazzy tones of Ano Zero, and the evocations of the Kalahari in Copenhagen,The Sound of Water takes the listener on a journey that transcends the accepted notions of what a guitar can do.
Butcher’s sound engineering has revealed a new power and depth with The Sound of Water, a departure from Gripper’s previous recordings which were characterised by a raw and elegant minimalism.
“Normally I sit in front of the mic and play, leaving it just like that. This time we spent a lot of time in post-production, delving into the possibilities of the studio so as to highlight the sound of the guitar and really bring it into a sharp focus. The result is an energetic and dynamic sound which captures the whole range of light and dark, orchestral and fragile… Listening back I would say that the musical gestures traverse an emotional range from Hendrix to Bach.”
The CD will be released on New Cape Records with a cover image provided by William Kentridge. This is certain to be one of the most definitive releases in the already extensive New Cape Records catalogue
Connect with Muse