" I heard Tony Cox play in Cape Town in 2001 and he was brilliant... he's finally coming to England! So I'm very pleased he's playing at Live@215..." Michael Tinker.
Born in Zimbabwe and residing in Johannesburg South Africa, multiple award-winning acoustic guitarist Cox has become a veritable icon of the instrument in his own country. The guitarist seems to be working his particular six-string magic further afield, you have an opportunity to see him in Sheffield.
As of late, he has undertaken regular forays into Europe and Canada and has seen a loyal fan-base begin to develop in the UK, Germany and Canada.
When he was just nine years old Tony Cox began, incredibly, learning and playing the Hawaiian guitar in what was then Rhodesia. This was brought about by one Archie Pereira arriving from Lisbon and for reasons unknown decided to settle in the backwater of Kwe-Kwe, a town 20 miles away from Cox’s mining-town birthplace, Redcliff.
In his teens and after Archie disappeared back to Lisbon,Cox changed to a conventional guitar style and later studied the classical guitar for an intensive 2-year period. In 1969 the family left Rhodesia to settle in Cape Town South Africa and it is here the young guitarist really started to absorb and assimilate the multi-textured rhythms and facets of the rich, indigenous music of his upbringing and surroundings.
He began to compose his own music early and immediately charged it with the African imagery that is very much a part of this unique guitar player’s world perspective. Using all the finger-style techniques he had absorbed over the years from such greats as Leo Kottke and Bert Jansch, Cox honed and developed a style all his own. With the rigorous precision of classical technique juxtaposing the loose, laid-backed delivery of a master at work, Cox’s music tumbles out at you, hitting your tapping feet with its solid groove and taking your heart and mind on harmonic journeys they have not been on before.
Tony Cox on-stage is as warm and engaging with his audience as he is off-stage. Telling stories and anecdotes, he draws a person in and you find yourself listening really closely to a tune you may never have heard before and then being punched in the solar-plexus at the power and delivery of that tune. Besides being a powerful solo performer Cox has collaborated and recorded with many other musicians to produce two award winning albums and a string of nominations. ‘China’ (SA slang for friend) is just such an album. He recorded it in 2002 featuring many of the cream of SA musicians and is a great example of Cox’s ability to work beyond the confines of solo guitar playing. The album won the ‘best instrumental’ category at the 2003 SAMA awards.
He has very recently received his 7th nomination for the 2008 SAMA awards for his new release, ‘Blue Anthem’ and at the event on the 2nd of May, walked away with his third SAMA. In late September 2007 Cox performed at the ‘Open Strings International Guitar Festival’ in Osnabrueck, Germany up alongside the finest guitar players in the world. Shortly after he completed a 16- theatre tour of Canada and the USA and has been booked for a string of summer festivals in those countries for 2008.
About Live@215
Live@215 has been running in some form or other for 3 years now. In that time we’ve heard from Belfast Folk duo ‘Black Thorn’ and blues band ‘The Blues Review’. More recently we’ve enjoyed music from, Radio 2 Folk Award nominees Damien
O'Kane and Shona Kipling, African drumming group 'Unbeatable Energy' and Doc Brown (and the DeLorians of Sound).
Along with the more upbeat sounds of African Drumming we’ve also had relaxing Jazz from Manchester-based John Ellis Trio plus stunning vocals from Liverpool singer Rachael Wright and Beccy Owen. In May we welcomed well-known folk singer Emily Smith.
Live @ 215 takes place every 3rd Friday of the Month and is run by the Crowded House which is a network of churches in
Sheffield and around the world
SOUTH AFRICAN ACOUSTIC GUITARIST :: TONY COX
Date: 17 October 2008 Time: 8pm Cost: £4
Venue: Live@215
215 Sharrow Vale Rd. S11 8ZB
