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Guy Buttery

As you drive about 13 miles north of Durban, the largest city in the province of Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa, you pass a lush fertile belt where the rich green shades of the sugar cane meet the turquoise of the Indian Ocean. This is where on the 26th November 1983, guitarist and composer Guy Buttery was born and raised in a small coastal town along the North Coast. This is a place of enchantment, freedom, promise and where the creative spirit takes charge.

Besides being introduced to music at an early age through his mother who plays the piano and his older brothers who played guitar, the muse naturally took hold of Guy when he was ten. It wasn’t out of peer pressure, but out of the necessity to liberate the creative whirlwind which was ever prevalent during those early years. Just think about it. As rich as the soil for his feet to stand on, you had local Zulu tribesmen, playing their brand of music known as Maskanda on finger-picked oil drum guitars. They are South Africa’s blues men, or wandering storytellers, which hollered their song into a young Buttery’s heart. Across the valley, the sounds of tabla and sitar could be heard from one of the many Indian Hindu temples bringing a diversity of colour, spirit and enlightenment into such an enquiring mind.

Back in the Buttery household, the sounds of The Doors, Led Zeppelin, Dylan and Bob Marley made their way into the teenager’s songbook. Practicing hours every day on his older brothers ‘hand me down’ Sae Han guitar, these icons opened doorways and liberated Guy’s spirit. During these formative years, he got an understanding of rock and folk harmonies, almost serving an apprenticeship for greater things to come. When the guitar was put down, the inspiration was continually diverted and fed through the physical. Exploring the lush cane fields and living in the coastal forests, building secret tree houses and surfing the warm Indian Ocean currents only added to the deep well of inspiration. Many a profound event happened during these times.

After hearing John Paul Jones’ mandolin on Zeppelin’s, “Battle of Evermore”, Guy acquired a mandolin, and with the influence of Ravi Shankar being so close to home, purchased a sitar from one of the local Indian music shops. At the age of 13, Buttery was introduced to classical harmony through his first guitar teacher, Leandros Stavrou. The quest for new musical boundaries was inevitable, and through friend, guitar teacher and present collaborator, Nibs van der Spuy, Guy was introduced to fingerstylist extraordinaire, Michael Hedges. This only ignited the flame even bigger. Guy then went on to study Jazz at the Kwa-Zulu Natal Technikon and later on, at the Durban School of Music to reunite with Leandros Stavrou, to further his classical training. Soon after, the boundaries were pushed even wider by hearing the music of Oregon, Ralph Towner, Steve Reich, Egberto Gismonti and John Coltrane to name a few.

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Forests of Sound

Guy Buttery: A Trio Of Heart

Read "Guy Buttery: A Trio Of Heart" reviewed by Mick Raubenheimer


Renowned for his--by all accounts--wondrous musicianship, expressed predominantly on guitar, Buttery is admired not only for virtuosic technique, but a subtle and highly emotive melodic sensibility, which often evokes an air of spirituality. Following his multi-award winning seventh album, aptly entitled Guy Buttery--as, at the time, it felt like his most personal to date (see the aforementioned spiritual quality of track 'The upper reaches')--Buttery was struck down by an undiagnosable malady which had him practically bedridden for several months. Towards ...

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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Guy Buttery

Jazz Musician of the Day: Guy Buttery

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Guy Buttery's birthday today!

As you drive about 13 miles north of Durban, the largest city in the province of Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa, you pass a lush fertile belt where the rich green shades of the sugar cane meet the turquoise of the Indian Ocean. This is where on the 26th November 1983, guitarist and composer Guy Buttery was born and raised in a small coastal town along the North Coast. This is a ...

108

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Guy Buttery

Jazz Musician of the Day: Guy Buttery

Source:

All About Jazz is celebrating Guy Buttery's birthday today!

As you drive about 13 miles north of Durban, the largest city in the province of Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa, you pass a lush fertile belt where the rich green shades of the sugar cane meet the turquoise of the Indian Ocean. This is where on the 26th November 1983, guitarist and composer Guy Buttery was born and raised in a small coastal town along the North Coast. This is a ...

117

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Guy Buttery

Jazz Musician of the Day: Guy Buttery

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Guy Buttery's birthday today!

JAZZ MUSICIAN OF THE DAY Guy Buttery

As you drive about 13 miles north of Durban, the largest city in the province of Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa, you pass a lush fertile belt where the rich green shades of the sugar cane meet the turquoise of the Indian Ocean... more

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ACCOLADES:

Guy's debut album, "When I Grow Up..." was nominated for 'Best Instrumental Album of the Year' and 'Best Newcomer for 2002' at the South African Music Awards as well as being the youngest nominee in the history of the event. In 2003, the South African Rock Digest nominated “When I Grow Up..." as one of the top albums of the year. Guy’s 2nd release, “Songs from the Cane Fields” was also nominated for ‘Best Instrumental Album’ in 2006 at the South African Music Awards.

REVIEWS:

“… his music has a subtle grace and power all of its own. Though his technical prowess is also bewildering, Buttery immerses himself entirely into the soul of his guitar, coaxing sonic shapes and forms of such startling originality from it that his instrument acts as a kind of lightning conductor for the sound of another realm.”

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