(Frank Paco)
Acclaimed drummer Frank Paco will be doing a whistle-stop
three concert tour of KZN with his Art Ensemble band, appearing at UKZN on
September 9; Luthuli Museum in Groutville on September 11 and Seaman’s Corner
in Hammarsdale on September 12.
The Frank Paco Art Ensemble tour is supported by Concerts
SA: a joint South African/Norwegian project housed under the auspices of the
Stakeholder Hub within The SAMRO Foundation; it receives financial,
administrative and technical support from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, SAMRO and Concerts Norway.
The line-up for his KZN tour will consist of a great band:
Frank Paco on drums, Ildo Nandja on bass, Neil Gonsalves on keys, Salim
Washington on saxophone and vocalist Zoe Modiga.
Paco’s impressive career includes highlights such as 46664
Mandela AIDS concert performing with many of the world’s great musicians such
as the legendary band Queen, Bono, Jimmy Cliff, Angelique Kidjo, Dave Stewart,
Andrew Bonsu, Johnny Clegg, Brian May and Peter Gabriel.
Other highlights include international performances with
artists such as Jonathan Butler; Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela, the highly
acclaimed house music group Ananda Project from USA, British-born New
York-based guitarist Ronny Jordan, New Yorker House singer Monique Bingham,
Lokua Khanza and more.
Paco started playing drums at the tender age of 11 in
Mozambique, where he already gained performance experience with friends and
school bands. He recalls making his own drums and guitars out of oil canisters
as a child, as it was hard to find musical instruments in a Mozambique oppressed
by a raging civil war. Despite the challenges, however, he achieved true
musical greatness.
Collaborative highlights include performances with Tucan
Tucan as a band leader; Uhambo (a Norwegian, Danish and Southern African
collaboration); VJR, Ragga Africa (an Indian- African collaboration);
award-winner Jimmy Dludlu with whom they toured USA, performed at the New
Orleans Jazz Fest and Washington DC; New York, Switzerland’s Lugano Jazz Fest;
Italy, France and Holland’s North Sea Jazz Fest.
In 2000, Paco was invited to record with South Africa’s top
musicians under the Sheer Sound Jazz Label, of which his composition Milagre was chosen for the music video.
The group also won the South African Music Awards (SAMA), for the Best Contemporary
Jazz Album and received an invitation to Den Hague to perform at the North Sea
Jazz Festival in 2001. In his career as a session musician, Paco has recorded
on more than 40 albums, 10 of which received awards and four were nominated for
awards.
He is currently promoting his debut album for his band Frank Paco Art Ensemble that features
some of the finest international and local musicians.
This tour is produced by iSupport Music Business and
includes the following dates and venues:
September 9 at 18h00 (doors open at 17h30) - Centre for Jazz
& Popular Music, UKZN, Howard College, Durban. R50 (R30 pensioners, R15
students)
September 11 at 18h30 (doors open at 18h00) - Luthuli Museum
in Groutville. R30 entrance fee. Paco will also facilitate a workshop performance
for learners at the Museum.
September 12 at 19h00 (doors open at 18h00). Seamans
Corner, Unit 3, Hammarsdale, Mpumalanga. Entrance R30.
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