Blake Hellaby

BIO

Musician, Performer, Producer, Composer, Teacher

Blake Hellaby is a multi-instrumentalist, composer and music producer based in Cape Town, South Africa, whose goal is to bring people joy through music. As a performer he has appeared in venues across South Africa, as well as elsewhere in Africa and Europe. He has written and produced songs that have gained radio play in South Africa both on both jazz and commercial radio.

His musical journey started with classical piano lessons at the age of 7, and continued throughout his school years at SACS. But at age 14, Blake first encountered jazz, and was immediately drawn to everything about it – the performance dynamic, the improvisation, the interplay between the band members and the environment of the performances (in contrast to his experience of classical performances). He then started saxophone lessons, under the legendary South African saxophonist, Buddy Wells. However, the classical expectations of Blake’s school kept him very busy, completing ABRSM piano and theory exams, so jazz training only started when he embarked on a degree in jazz performance at the University of Cape Town, where he is currently a part-time lecturer.
Although not formally taught jazz at high school, he was still selected to be the pianist of the Standard Bank National School’s Big Band at the Grahamstown Jazz Festival (now the Makhanda Jazz Festival) in 2007.

It was at university that Blake was exposed to a much wider range of music genres, which engendered a broader love and appreciation of diverse styles. These years also extended his musical talents, and deepened his musical understanding and maturity. In particular, Blake’s aptitude and passion for music production emerged during this time.

Blake had the opportunity of touring on multiple occasions during his studies. He was selected for the Miagi Youth Orchestra, which performed in Johannesburg and undertook a tour of Berlin, Germany (2009). On another occasion he joined a 2 week tour of Burgundy in France as part of the Delft Big Band (2013). He was chosen to participate in the Nordic Showcase Masterclass and perform at the Oslo Jazz Festival (2014).

Since completing his studies, Blake has performed extensively in both the jazz and commercial sectors, and he has served as booking agent for local music venues. His credits include gigs with many of South Africa’s top musicians, such as Mandisi Dyantyis, McCoy Mrubata, Ian Smith, John Hassan, Frank Paco, Buddy Wells, Vicky Sampson, Mark Fransman, Dan Shout, Loukmaan Adams, Kevin Gibson, Tarryn Lamb. He was also booked to perform alongside Herbie Hancock at International Jazz Day on April 30, 2020, but that has been postponed due to COVID-19.

He was pianist for the National Youth Jazz Band (Grahamstown Jazz Festival, 2014), and has performed in the French Season Arts Festival run by Alliance Francais, as well as the Cape Town Jazz Festival (2015). He toured with the band Nu Notes in Swaziland (2015) and in Mozambique (with Ivan Mazuze, 2016). He was pianist for the 2017 show King Kong , Legend of a Boxer in both Cape Town and Johannesburg.
Other international artists include numerous performances with German bass player, Martin Zenker, Swiss Alphornist, Eliana Burki. In 2017 he was pianist and musical director for US singer Yvette Norwood-Tiger, and in 2019 he played with Charles Alexander of the Berklee College of Music.

His experience in the studio is also substantial, having worked with artists, DJs and songwriters as a session musician, producer, and mixing/mastering engineer. Working with artists such as Leighton Moody (House DJ), Frank Paco (Mozambican drummer), Tristan Weitkamp (jazz saxophonist from USA), Jo Kunnuji (Nigerian trumpeter), EKC Worship (Gospel), Choni G (Jewish religious music), to name a few.

As a performer, arranger and composer, he is conversant with jazz, funk, souls, house, pop and more. His work has received very positive reviews:
“Hellaby’s version of ‘jazz’ awakened listeners to his skillful use of hard core funk, be- bop, grungy blues and rock, all loosely packaged in a soulful improvisational style which Hellaby is making his own" - Carol Martin.
Blake has taught music at both high school and university levels, as well as privately. At Wynberg Boys High School, he taught saxophone, piano, improvisation and conducted the school big band for 5 years. He is currently a part-time lecturer at the University of Cape Town’s College of Music.