(Bernice
Boikanyo)
In association with Concerts SA, iSupport
Music Business presents Bernice Boikanyo Live in concert. Johannesburg-based
Boikanyo and his band will visit Centre for Jazz & Popular Music at
University of KwaZulu Natal on May 2, Luthuli Museum in Groutville on May 4 and
Seaman’s Corner in Hammarsdale on May 6.
For this performance, drummer Boikanyo will
be accompanied by Lungelo Ngcobo on keys and Qhubekani Mthethwa on bass guitar.
“I will be playing songs from my debut
album My Soul, which has lots of
groovy compositions and immense arrangements that will keep the audience
tapping their feet. I will also be introducing some of the latest tunes from my
next album, which resonates the love and affection for many styles/genres of
music that have influenced me over the years, as jazz is not the only genre
that influences me. Furthermore, we will be revisiting some of the great South
African standards that have paved the path to make South African jazz to be on
the map of the world. We promise our audience a great listening, love and
dancing pleasure." says Boikanyo.
Born in Naledi, Soweto, from a musical
family, Boikanyo grew up believing that “music is something I’ve been living on
even before I was conceived”. On his mother’s side, his great-grandfather was a
trumpet player and choir leader, his grandfather was a guitar player, and his
two uncles were also musicians.
At a young age, Boikanyo started crafting
his own drums, boring holes into 5-litre paint tins, around which he stretched
tyre tubes to make and explore different tones. Despite this, he took on the
bass and guitar into his teenage years. This early passion for the beat only
later unfolded and made a return.
In the early 90’s Boikanyo studied music –
starting at CAMS, then at the well-known FUBA music centre and finally at
Soweto’s music and arts academy, FUNDA. For the first four years, he focused on
the piano as a fundamental basis for making music, then in 1993, when he heard
one of his part-time teachers, play the drums, he realised that drums were
still his thing.
Kicking off his professional career, he was
soon spotted by top artists such as McCoy Mrubata, who encouraged him to
practise, saying that “one day you will play with me!” He subsequently honoured
this invitation, and performed and recorded with the legendary saxophonist, a
version of Missing You (one of the
tracks on his debut album My Soul). Boikanyo
has since worked around the globe with an impressive array of artists,
including Caiphus Semenya and Letta Mbulu, Jimmy Dludlu, Ringo, Pops Mohamed,
Tutty Moreno and Roy Hargrove. He recently returned from a tour of East Africa
supported by the Concerts SA Music Mobility Fund.
Boikanyo prefers to play from the heart and
the soul, hence he titled his debut album My
Soul.
This series of performances by Boikanyo is
part of the Concerts SA Venue Circuit which aims to foster a love and support
for live music in our communities, as well as anchor small and medium sized
venues in urban and rural Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, and the Western Cape.
Events Listing
May 2 at 17h30: Centre for Jazz and Popular
Music, UKZN, Howard College, Durban. Tickets R80 (R50 pensioners, R25 students)
available at the door
May 4 at 18h00: Luthuli Museum, Groutville.
Tickets R30 available at the door
May 6 at 14h00: Seaman’s Corner, Unit 3,
Hammarsdale. Tickets R30 available at the door
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