Derek Gripper

Bio

Derek Gripper is an artist from South Africa.

It took Derek Gripper untold hours of painstaking work to transcribe note-for-note the complex compositions of Malian kora player Toumani Diabaté and find a way of playing them on six-string guitar. The results appeared on his ninth album, 'One Night on Earth.' The album created an unprecedented meeting point between the written tradition of Western classical music and the oral tradition of the West African griots.

Critical acclaim was quick to follow. Classical guitar legend John Williams said he thought it was “absolutely impossible until I heard Derek Gripper do it.” Toumani Diabaté himself asked for confirmation that it was indeed just one person playing one guitar. Both invited Derek to collaborate with them: Derek performed with Williams in London’s Shakespeare’s Globe and King’s Place, and with Diabaté and his Symmetric Orchestra at the Acoustik Festival Bamako, Mali. He also played with Trio da Kali at Carnegie Hall and won a Songlines Award for the best album in Africa and the Middle East. Derek tours regularly in the USA, Canada, Britain, Europe, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Namibia, Australia, Malaysia, India and Mali.

Aside from these transcriptions Derek has created original music from his diverse influences, from Africa: Mali, Senegal, The Gambia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Arvo Part, and Egberto Gismonti. Derek has also spent many years performing and recording his own translations of Bach’s violin and cello music, infusing his interpretations with his lessons from the oral traditions of Africa.

Posts

Portrait de Derek Gripper

Derek Gripper a ajouté 6 nouveaux morceaux

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Tubaka (Live Solo Guitar)
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Djourou Kara Nany (Live Solo Guitar)
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Sleep Song, Part 2 (Waking the Strings)
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Portrait de Derek Gripper

Derek Gripper a ajouté un nouveau morceau

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Sleep Song, Part 5 (from Koortjie)
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Portrait de Derek Gripper

Derek Gripper a ajouté 8 nouveaux morceaux

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Ballaké Sissoko
Basle
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Ballaké Sissoko
Koortjie
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Kaounding Cissoko (Live Solo Guitar)
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Portrait de Derek Gripper

Derek Gripper a ajouté 9 nouveaux morceaux

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Sonata No. 1 in G Minor, BWV 1001: I. Adagio (Arr. by Derek Gripper)
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Sonata No. 1 in G Minor, BWV 1001: IV. Presto (Arr. by Derek Gripper)
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Sonata No. 1 in G Minor, BWV 1001: III. Siciliana (Arr. by Derek Gripper)
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Musique

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Ballaké Sissoko
Basle
04:51
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Ballaké Sissoko
Daraka
02:53
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Ballaké Sissoko
Moss on the Mountain
05:29
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Ballaké Sissoko
Maimouna
07:20
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Ballaké Sissoko
Koyé Yè Yan
04:36
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Ballaké Sissoko
Koortjie
08:00
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Ballaké Sissoko
Ninkoy
07:02
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Sleep Song, Part 5 (from Koortjie)
07:02
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Sleep Song, Part 3 (from Jarabi)
10:07
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Sleep Song, Part 2 (Waking the Strings)
07:12
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'56 (Live Solo Guitar)
04:08
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Djourou Kara Nany (Live Solo Guitar)
03:35
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Elyne Road (Live Solo Guitar)
03:36
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Tubaka (Live Solo Guitar)
03:59
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Mama FC (Live Solo Guitar)
01:36
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Bakoye (Live Solo Guitar)
04:47
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Kaounding Cissoko (Live Solo Guitar)
05:57
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Yamore Lullaby
04:46
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Risk (Recycled 1/4 Inch tape)
05:00
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Photobook : Lindokuhle (Home Recording)
04:31
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Blue Light (Studio)
04:48
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Bullfight (Studio)
03:08
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Cederberg (Field Recording)
04:07
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Sissie My Kind (Recycled 1/4 Inch Tape)
06:26
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Seeing Nobody (Studio Version)
05:00
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Ayo (Recycled 1/4 Inch Tape)
05:06
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Guy Buttery
Ana (Live)
08:01
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Ana (Cello and Guitar)
03:38
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Tita
03:01
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Chiwo
03:00
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Folon
04:54
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Koortjie
06:17
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Ananaming
02:24
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Ana
02:23
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Fanta and Felix
03:01
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Partita No. 1 in B Minor, BWV 1002: IV. Tempo di Borea (Arr. by Derek Gripper)
03:04
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Partita No. 1 in B Minor, BWV 1002: III. Sarabande (Arr. by Derek Gripper)
02:36
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Partita No. 1 in B Minor, BWV 1002: II. Corrente (Arr. by Derek Gripper)
02:49
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Partita No. 1 in B Minor, BWV 1002: I. Allemanda (Arr. by Derek Gripper)
05:21
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Sonata No. 1 in G Minor, BWV 1001: IV. Presto (Arr. by Derek Gripper)
04:20
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Sonata No. 1 in G Minor, BWV 1001: III. Siciliana (Arr. by Derek Gripper)
01:58
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Sonata No. 1 in G Minor, BWV 1001: II. Fuga (Arr. by Derek Gripper)
04:26
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Sonata No. 1 in G Minor, BWV 1001: I. Adagio (Arr. by Derek Gripper)
03:40
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Ma-Ma Fc
03:14
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Bakoye
03:10
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Tubaka (Love)
05:36
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Konkoba (Earth)
04:42
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Kaira (Peace)
05:27
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Jarabi (Passion)
06:38
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Elyne Road
03:18
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Djourou Kara Nany
04:24
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Kaounding Cissoko
04:25
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'56
03:06
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Chamber Music
05:35
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Vidéos

Ana Na Ming by Salif Keita on SOLO GUITAR
Lindo: The Moss on the Mountain
Cape Town's Most Beautiful Forest (with guitar) - JONI by Derek Gripper
KOORTJIE: One Mic. One Take. One Camera. One Life (old zen saying).
Bach played on guitar with wild sheep gut strings...and recorded to 1/4 inch tape.
'56 - Derek Gripper and Guy Buttery play this classic by Ali Farka Touré
Seeing Nobody : Guy Buttery and Derek Gripper
Ballaké Sissoko (kora) and Derek Gripper (guitar) astounding improvised performance at SOAS 2022
Bach Cello Suite 2 Prelude performance
A lesson Bassekou Kouyate's NGONI performance of POYI, a West African griot classic
Brouwer Estudio VI 19 June 2022 EADgbe
Karat School Project Fundraiser Livestream
Lindo 2 by Derek Gripper
Bach without a metronome, without clock time
Folon by Salif Keita for solo guitar by Derek Gripper
Learn To Read Guitar Tablature in Six Minutes.
How to play a simple accompaniment to West African classic "Jarabi" on guitar
Jamaica Plain Livestream
How to play Lampedusa by Toumani and Sidiki Diabate.
Play Folon by Salif Keita on solo guitar.
Jarabi - Derek Gripper and Tunde Jegede
The Pond (Seeing Nobody)
The Forge: Derek Gripper & Madosini
Sarabande in d minor by JS Bach played by Derek Gripper
Homage to Debusy by Manuel de Falla
Yamore - Salif Keita with tape percussion.
Derek Gripper Meets Cheick Modibo Diarra (Interplanetary Navigator) in Mali
The Song Madosini Insists I Composed...
Bach Cello Suite 1 : Prelude (arranged for guitar)
Masane Cissé 3.0
Ali Farka Touré - how to play the accompaniment to ‘56
Trailer for "Playing Ali Farka Touré"
CNN Session : Side B
Mike Block (cello) and Derek Gripper (guitar) Recording in Boston
Derek Gripper Plays Lampedusa by Toumani Diabaté
Debashish Battacharyan and Derek Gripper play Tita
BACH CIACONNA VANCOUVER DEREK GRIPPER
Jarabi first lesson
Libraries on Fire - Recording
Adagio from Bach's G Minor Sonata
Lampedusa
Derek Gripper's Patreon Campaign
Two Guitar Kora Duets by Gripper/Khota
Joni - Debashish Battacharya, Derek Gripper, Andreas Aase
Derek Gripper plays Tubaka by Toumani Diabaté
Derek Gripper plays Madosini
Derek Gripper Plays Bach
Derek Gripper Plays the Kora Music Toumani Diabate on Classical Guitar
ZACape Town, South Africa
Opérationnel depuis: 
1993

Contact

0743573334
Derek Gripper

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