International drumming and jazz virtuoso and Rolex music fellow, Marcus Gilmore, will collaborate with some of SA’s finest musicians at the Baxter for two performances only on 27 and 28 October 2023.
Last seen in Cape Town as part of the Rolex Arts Weekend in February 2020, Marcus Gilmore heads to Cape Town to join top South African musicians, Darren English (trumpet), Benjamin Jephta (bass guitar), Linda Sikhakhane (saxophone), Ntando Ngcapu (keys) and Tanksio Mamabolo on vocals. As part of this limited tour Gilmore will deliver a workshop for aspiring student drummers from UCT’s South African College of Music and other surrounding music academies at The Baxter on Thursday 26 October.
The multi-award-winning drumming prodigy has had the jazz world enthralled over the last two decades, building on the legacy of his grandfather, the iconic American jazz drummer, Roy Haynes, whose career has spanned over 80 years in the industry. Named in 2018 as Rolex Protégé to Zakir Hussain (whom Marcus credits as a musical ‘Yoda’) as part of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, Gilmore ended his mentorship journey by writing his first composition for orchestra, Pulse, which premiered at the Rolex Arts Weekend at The Baxter in 2020.
Performed alongside jazz greats
Commissioned by the American Composers Orchestra, the composition for ensemble and spoken word was performed by musicians from the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Brandon Phillips. Gilmore was one of the more than 200 renowned artists and arts leaders from South Africa and around the world who gathered at the Baxter Theatre Centre on 8 and 9 February 2020, to attend the prestigious Rolex Arts Weekend.
A graduate from the renowned Juilliard School and the Manhattan School of Music, Gilmore has been touring since the age of 16. He has performed alongside some of the world’s most well-known jazz artists, including Chick Corea (with whom he won a Grammy Award on 2019), Steve Coleman, Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Vijay Iyer. He is the recipient of several awards, such as a Latin Grammy Award for his work with composer and pianist Chick Corea and was featured on the cover of the June 2019 edition of Modern Drummer magazine.
What: Marcus Gilmore
Where and when: 27 and 28 October 2023 at the Baxter
Tickets: Webtickets
WS
