Shadows and Light

In a year of many outstanding performances at the Evergreen Theatre, this concert by Tony Cox was surely one of the highlights! View the gallery of images here or read on

This multi-award winning acoustic guitarist who is currently based in Johannesburg, but born in Zimbabwe, brought to the Evergreen Theatre Margaretsville audience a wonderful style of composition and musicianship that is uniquely his own. It is extraordinary how the strings of a guitar played by a gifted musician can so clearly conjure up in our minds the sounds, smells and feel of a place – even one to which one has never been. We found ourselves transported to the depths of Africa, when Tony played his tunes – “Bluegrass Safari” – the combo piece that was inspired by two unique styles – Bluegrass and African Kwela – as well as “In the Distance”, “Kwe-Kwe” and the powerful and evocative “Jambanja”. In “Major Mynah” his guitar became the roosting birds gossiping and chattering themselves to sleep in front of the town hall while we eavesdropped on them.

His guitar, which you see in the photographs was made by a noted South African luthier, Mervyn Davis and was an unusual instrument which was actually bolted together and produced a wonderful rich tone.

Thank you so much, Tony, for a very special evening. I hope that you will come back to Margaretsville the next time you find yourself in this part of the world.

You can see the gallery of photos of the show which also features a music track from his live performance CD.

Ellie