Alex van Heerden
Encyclopedia
Alex van Heerden was a musician and artist of Cape Town
, South Africa
. He worked with Robbie Jansen
in Jansen's jazz group Sons of Table Mountain
. According to himself, he was a "South African trumpeter, vocalist, accordionist, producer, composer, historian and explorer".
Van Heerden also worked together with Swedish musician and producer Håkan Lidbo, creating electronic music on the side of the jazz and the vastrap he's been making. In a whole, he was a truly creative musician, always finding his own interpretations of both old and new music genres, developing music in a true way.
He worked, together with his brother-in-law, composer and guitarist Derek Gripper, to recreate the rural music of the Western Cape
within an acoustic setting. Together they created a style of music dubbed avant-goema, using string quartet, guitar, trumpet, vocals and accordion to open up new musical spaces within the musical landscapes of vastrap, langarm, boeremusiek, goema, and contemporary minimalism, jazz and improvisation. Their two CD releases, Sagtevlei and Ale!x document this unique musical journey, as well as the score for the work for string quartet, guitar, accordion and trumpet Spore by die Bek van 'n Ystervarkgat.
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. He worked with Robbie Jansen
Robbie Jansen
Robert Edward Jansen was a South African musician and a folk hero in the Western Cape. He was born in Cape Town, South Africa.-Biography:...
in Jansen's jazz group Sons of Table Mountain
Sons of Table Mountain
Sons of Table Mountain is a jazz band of Robbie Jansen, a South African musician from Cape Town. The band members are Robbie Jansen, pianist Hilton Schilder, Steven Erasmus, Jack Momplé and Alex van Heerden...
. According to himself, he was a "South African trumpeter, vocalist, accordionist, producer, composer, historian and explorer".
Career
He was a self-taught musician that started to play trumpet at age 17, to avoid compulsory military training, during the apartheid era of South Africa. Later, on he began exploring music throughout various ways; jazz, the Karoo desert, vastrap, ghoema and electronic music played important roles.Van Heerden also worked together with Swedish musician and producer Håkan Lidbo, creating electronic music on the side of the jazz and the vastrap he's been making. In a whole, he was a truly creative musician, always finding his own interpretations of both old and new music genres, developing music in a true way.
He worked, together with his brother-in-law, composer and guitarist Derek Gripper, to recreate the rural music of the Western Cape
Western Cape
The Western Cape is a province in the south west of South Africa. The capital is Cape Town. Prior to 1994, the region that now forms the Western Cape was part of the much larger Cape Province...
within an acoustic setting. Together they created a style of music dubbed avant-goema, using string quartet, guitar, trumpet, vocals and accordion to open up new musical spaces within the musical landscapes of vastrap, langarm, boeremusiek, goema, and contemporary minimalism, jazz and improvisation. Their two CD releases, Sagtevlei and Ale!x document this unique musical journey, as well as the score for the work for string quartet, guitar, accordion and trumpet Spore by die Bek van 'n Ystervarkgat.
Discography
- Cape Jazz Classics (Gallo, 1996)
- Gramadoelas - Gramadoelas (Afrimusik, 1999)
- Cape Doctor - Robbie Jansen (Mountain Records, 2000)
- Sagtevlei - Alex van Heerden & Derek Gripper (Open Record, 2003)
- Future Cape - Rockart (Alex van Heerden & Hilton Schilder) (Dala Flat Music, 2006)
- Simple - Håkan Lidbo & Alex van Heerden (Container Recordings, 2006)
- Bushtech - Alex van Heerden (Smallfunk, 2007)
- Tales of Droëland - Alex van Heerden and Paul Miller (Smallfunk, 2008)
- In the Name of Bushtech - Alex van Heerden (Sinergy-Networks, 2008)
- Nefertiti - Alex van Heerden and Magnus Johansson (Cirque. Mavo, 2008)
- Ale!x - Alex van Heerden, Derek Gripper and Brydon Bolton live at the Arena (www.derekgripper.com 2008)