The South African All-Stars Tony Cedras
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
The South African All-Stars Member Bios Tony Cedras BORN in Elsies River, Cape Town in 1952, Tony Cedras is a sought after session player who has toured the world as part of the Gracelands show band, and before that, as a member of Amandla cultural ensemble in exile. Cedras' first musical experiences were in the local church choir, singing and also playing accordion. He soon progressed to trumpet, taking in the local jazz scene, as well as the American jazz influences prominent in South Africa at that time. Cedras became a key session player in the Cape jazz circuit, working with artists such as Jonathan Butler, tenor saxophonist Winston Mankunku Ngozi, altoist Robbie Jansen, flautist/guitarist Russel Herman, and bassist Basil Moses. The Estudio project, together with Robbie Jansen and others was acknowledged as a highlight of this period. After touring inside South Africa, Cedras relocated to Gaborone, in the neighbouring state of Botswana in the early 1980's. At that stage, Botswana was a home-away-from-home for many exiles, and it was here that he met trombonist/bandleader Jonas Gwangwa. Gwangwa was the musical director of the Amandla ensemble of the ANC, which Cedras joined, travelling not only in Africa, but also in Europe, Canada and Brazil. While working with Amandla, Cedras spent time in London, where he made contact with other South African artists who were part of the ex-patriot South African music scene. He moved there in 1985, and soon formed the group Kintone, a band which "explored the common musical ground between its West Indian and South African membership". Kintone recorded two albums for Sterns Africa, and built a solid live performance profile in the UK. Late in 1986, Cedras returned to Southern Africa. He again worked with the exile artists community, participating in the Buwa project headed by Caiphus Semenya and Letta Mbulu. This musical toured extensively in Africa. While in Zimbabwe, Cedras was contacted with the request for him to join the Graceland tour band. Hugh Masekela had recommended to Paul Simon that Cedras could provide valuable musical input. Cedras thus toured with Paul Simon's Graceland for most of the period 1987 - 1989, and then from 1990 -1992 with Simon's Born at the Right Time tour. Having built a solid working rapport with Masekela and Miriam Makeba (who also participated in the Gracelands tour), he did extensive work with their respective bands. He also toured with Harry Belafonte during 1993 and Henry Threadgill in 1994. His debut solo album, Vision Over People was released during this period, and he also returned to perform in his home, Cape Town. Recording credits include work with Paul Simon, Hugh Masekela, Miriam Makeba, Joan Baez, Harry Belafonte, Ziggy Marley, Henry Threadgill, Milton Nascimento, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Cassandra Wilson, and Jonathan Butler. Tony Cedras is based in Brooklyn, New York, where he regularly performs with fellow ex- patriots such as bassist Bakithi Kumalo and saxophonist Morris Goldberg. He frequently works with trumpeter Chris Botti, drummers Damon Duewhite and Maciek Schejbal, percussionist Cyro Baptista, and Cameroonian-born vocalist Kaissa. This biog - Steve Gordon, 2003 Anton Fig Born in Cape Town, South Africa, Anton began playing drums at age four. After performing in numerous successful local rock bands he moved to Boston to further pursue his musical interests. His formal education included studies at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, studying both jazz and classical disciplines graduating with Honors in 1975. In 1976 he moved to New York where he began to establish a career as a freelance musician. Anton is presently a member of the "CBS Orchestra" appearing nightly on 'Late Show with David Letterman' - a position he has held since 1986. During this tenure he has played with scores of great artists including Miles Davis, James Brown, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Winwood, Bonnie Raitt and Tony Bennett. The CBS Orchestra has backed up a host of artists in other venues such as Stevie Wonder, Faith Hill, Little Richard and BB King at the closing ceremonies of the summer Olympic Games in Atlanta. They also backed Al Green, Gloria Estefan, In Sync and Eric Clapton for VH1's Save the Music concert at the White House. The CBS Orchestra is also the house band for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, playing with music's most influential personalities. Most recently they were the backup band for the concert for New York City where they performed with David Bowie, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, Eric Clapton and Buddy Guy, Macy Gray, and James Taylor. Some of the many recordings Anton has made include selections with Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger, Kiss, Cyndi Lauper, Madonna, Gary Moore, Spider, Ace Frehley, Joan Armatrading, Rosanne Cash, Joe Cocker, John Phillips, Warren Zevon, Sebastian Bach and Paul Butterfield. As a freelance drummer Anton has also played live with Paul Simon, Booker T and the MG's, The Thompson Twins at Live Aid, and played alongside Jim Keltner for Bob Dylan's 30th Anniversary concert celebration. In 1996 Anton released a drum instructional video and book entitled "In the Groove" and "Late Night Drumming". Anton has just completed his first solo record entitled "Figments". Produced and co-written by Fig, the record represents 3 years of work and includes among others singers and musicians Richie Havens, Brian Wilson, Ivan Neville, Sebastian Bach, Ace Frehley, Al Kooper, Chris Spedding, Donald 'Duck' Dunn, Blondie Chaplin, Paul Shaffer, Chris Botti, Randy Brecker and Richard Bona. Anton continues to be an in demand studio and live musician and is currently recording and composing for numerous projects, including The South African All-Stars. Morris Goldberg New York based composer, saxophonist, flutist, penny whistler and vocalist, Morris Goldberg recently completed recording his third album with his group, OJOYO. Mr. Goldberg grew up in Observatory, Cape Town, South Africa, and nurtured musical roots that span classical music, jazz, bebop, and mbaqanga. Well known to jazz lovers, Mr. Goldberg won popular acclaim through his featured performances on Paul Simon's “Graceland” album. Goldberg performed with Hugh Masekela in the 1960’s, before leaving South Africa to broaden his musical horizons. In the United States, he attended the Manhattan School of Music and regularly recorded and performed with artists such as Miriam Makeba, and Harry Belafonte. He also worked with exiled South African singer, Letta Mbulu. In 1974, Mr. Goldberg returned to Cape Town and participated in Abdullah Ibrahim’s recording “Mannenberg”, on which he was featured. In 1991, Goldberg was featured in Hugh Masekela's spectacular homecoming tour, "Sekunjalo", a twenty- date road show that featured Masekela, Bayete, and Sankomota. From 1980 until 1988 Morris worked for Harry Belafonte. He did three videos, the latest one being shown on PBS stations throughout the country. Goldberg gained nationwide acclaim as saxophonist and wind specialist on “The Rosie O'Donnell Show” for the six year duration of the television show, from 1996 until 2002. During that time, he accompanied many artists such as Tony Bennett, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Barry Manilow, Phil Collins and more. In 2004 he did an extensive tour of the USA with Hugh Masekela, playing major jazz festivals and culminating in the Playboy Jazz Festival, which was recorded and aired on WBGO Newark and WLIU Southampton. In that band, Goldberg played with Bakithi Kumalo, Tony Cedras and Anton Fig. Morris remains based in New York, but retains strong links with Cape Town and its musicians. Bakithi Kumalo (Bah-gee-tee Koo-mah-low) first came to the attention of the American public following the release of Paul Simon's "Graceland" in 1986. His precise and sinuous bass lines went far beyond simply marking time and thundered out a countdown for the dismemberment of apartheid. Bakithi grew up in the celebrated and notorious Soweto township. "My mother was a singer and my uncle a saxophone player." he says, "My uncle used to rehearse with his musicians at home every weekend. I would see how happy they were. They drank all the time and played music and I was like - 'I love this job! When I grow up, I want to be just like these people!'" The precocious kid didn't wait long. Bakithi played many of the traditional South African instruments very early and then moved on to playing Bass. By the time he was seven years old, he had enough chops to fill in for his uncle's bass player. "He was drunk and couldn't do the gig and I knew the songs", recalls Bakithi. Soon the boy was performing regularly and he went on an 18 month foray into Zululand when he was ten. "We were able to play in schools and hospitals but we got stranded there. I didn't know how to play yet with my fingers, so I used my thumb. Then, I saw somebody playing in a dream. He didn't have a head, I just saw his body and his fingers. I remembered the dream the next morning and started to use my fingers." The young prodigy returned to Soweto and started to record, but the record companies were exploitative and money was very tight. He recalls, "My mother, she used to be a nanny and do some cleaning and I was selling newspapers." Even so, he was certain about his destiny. "I knew that one day I'd become a great musician and take care of her." Apartheid compounded his difficulties. "Soweto was hard, because I couldn't do sessions unless I had a piece of paper that said I was allowed to be in town, maybe 10 to 8 o'clock.