New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ Wouter Kellerman official website) Flutist
Wouter Kellerman, who hails from South Africa, truly creates world-fusion music that is multi-cultural and genre-crossing because he brings together global musical elements to form a powerful, jubilant and universal sound.
"Mzansi represents the voices of my influences -- African and otherwise," explains Kellerman. "Being influenced by different styles and cultures, and working with musicians who bring their own energy to the project, make this a very varied album -- from traditional Sengalese songs to Celtic and South African influences. The last few years have been filled with inspiring collaborations. I have really been happy to work with different and very talented musicians and singers."
Kellerman's music is available worldwide on CDs and as digital downloads at online sales sites such as CDbaby, Amazon, iTunes, Rhapsody, eMusic and many other outlets. In addition to Mzansi, Kellerman also has released the acclaimed albums Colour, Two Voices, Half Moon and Timeless.
Wouter Kellerman (pronounced vo-tur) has become one of the leading musical ambassadors from South Africa with his recordings and tours that have included performances in Africa (at the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz Festival in Johannesburg, for example), Australia (the support slot on Johnny Clegg's Down Under Tour), China (at the Shanghai World Expo), Germany, France (at MIDEM, the world's biggest music conference), and the United States (including the Kennedy Center in Washington and Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas). He also performed at the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup Closing Ceremony to a global television audience of 700-million people.
Kellerman's Two Voices recording won the 2011 South African
Music Award (the SAMA is that country's top musical honor) for "Best Instrumental Album" (he had been nominated several times previously and the prior year had won a SAMA for "Best Instrumental DVD").
Both in the studio and onstage, Kellerman works with some of South Africa's most talented musicians and singers. "When I collaborate with someone, I try to adapt to what they are doing musically and get out of my comfort zone which allows for really interesting discoveries," states Kellerman. On Mzansi he plays a variety of flutes (most often classical metal flutes). Kellerman is joined by guitarists Erik Paliani, Juan-Pierre Oosthuizen, Paul Carlos, Lamine Sonko and Mauritz Lotz; bassists Sibusiso Victor Masondo and Schalk Joubert; pianists Melissa van der Spuy and Wessel van Rensburg; drummers Barry van Zyl,
Kevin Gibson and
David Klassen; percussionists Godfrey Mgcina, Tlale Makhene and Ady Thioune; and singers that include Mfaniseni Ntlama, Eunice Harris, Lamine Sonko, Jolette Odendaal,
David Matamela and more than two-dozen additional backing vocalists scattered throughout the album. The recording was produced by Kellerman with JB Arthur and Mauritz Lotz. It was mixed and mastered by Husky Hoskulds (who has won Grammys in the USA for his work with
Norah Jones and Sheryl Crow). The singing on the album is in several different African languages and also includes wordless vocals.
Mzansi begins with the cross-cultural tune "African Hornpipes." "I have always enjoyed Irish hornpipe tunes, and combining this traditional Irish melody with African vocals was a natural step for me," explains Kellerman. He selected the song "
Malaika" because "when I was young my parents had a Miriam Makeba album that I listened to every day, so I've loved listening to her version of 'Malaika' most of my life." This sad love-song is sung in Swahili, but when translated into English the heart-wrenching lyrics include the phrase: "I would marry you, angel, but I am defeated by the bride price that I don't have."
"Mama Tembu" is a well-known South African song, but Kellerman's band changes it around by doing a reggae version with a rap intro and an alternate melody sung between verses by the Senegalese singer Lamine Sonko. The ballad "Cape Flats" was written by
Wouter and his guitarist friend Paul
Carlos one day after they had done yoga ("I had one of those passionate, plaintive Cape songs in mind."). "After Hours," another gentle song, begins with a long flute solo.
The album features several out-of-the-ordinary tunes such as the upbeat, joyous "Khokho" that is primarily vocal sounds, vocal percussion and wordless vocalizing (with some flute and percussion). The soft and sad "Sylvia" features the use of "water percussion." "In The Moment" and "Fire Drill" are flute showcases written and performed by Kellerman in which, at times, he sings sounds into the flute as a percussive effect. "I was at a British Flute Society Convention and Greg Patillo was kind enough to show me how he does his beat-boxing on the flute." "Fire Drill" also includes a rap interlude by Mongezi Mbele. The album's title tune was written by Kellerman and
Carlos in an effort to mix dissonance with harmony "which is indicative of Jo'burg, where there is harmony and discord living next to each other, but the beat of the city carries on regardless."
Several pieces on the CD show West African influences. Kellerman explains that "'Miniamba' is a traditional song of love and sacrifice from the Mandinka people of West Africa." "N'Jarinu Garab" was written and originally recorded by the great Sengalese singer Cheikh Lo. "Samami" was written by Lamine Sonko of Senegal. All three are sung by Sonko and feature him playing Latin-style classical guitar with Erik Paliani also on acoustic guitar.
At age 10,
Wouter went to a classical music concert where he became enchanted with the flute and soon began taking lessons. He became one of his country's top young flautists, won first prize in the RAU Talent Festival, played in the SABC
Junior Orchestra (and toured South
America with them), was named the principal flautist with the South African
National Youth Orchestra, and was chosen to appear as a soloist with the Johannesburg Symphony Orchestra. He went on to be featured in several other South African orchestras and received many accolades and awards including the Perrenoud Foundation Prize at the 1997 Vienna International
Music Competition. He went abroad to study with some of the world's top flautists. But eventually he turned to creating original music. He learned improvisation and began incorporating styles that he enjoyed listening to from around the world.
His first CD, Colour, immediately showed his diversity and fusion of world sounds. It included an Argentinian tango by Astor Piazzola, a unique version of Prince's "Nothing Compares 2 U," the Celtic "Irish March," the Brazilian-influenced "Buenos Aires," and a tribute to his Afrikaans roots on "Al Le Die Berge." On subsequent albums, such as Timeless, Kellerman mixes traditionals such as "
Greensleeves" and "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" with songs about herding cattle in rural Transkei and an Afrikaans "liedjie" ("Ek Verlang Na Jou") as well as tributes to
Nelson Mandela ("Madiba" and "
The Long Road") and
Martin Luther King ("
Up To The Mountain").
Kellerman also is passionate about teaching young people, and helping them find a better life. For the past decade-and-a-half, he has sponsored the living expenses of 10 children and financed building projects in SOS Children's Villages in his homeland.
"I want music that comes from the hearts of the musicians," states Kellerman. "My whole attitude toward music is to touch its roots, the core of it. Bringing together sounds and styles from all over is my passion and comes from deep inside me."
