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One man and his guitar
Images: Courtesy Image Words: Lungisa Mnqwazi
It’s hard not to be drawn into the soulful melodies and indigenous sounds of musician Jeremy Olivier’s album Changing World.
Musician Jeremy Olivier arrived in Cape Town as a young man from Zimbabwe with a guitar in his hand and a dream in his heart. But his career began long before he ever set foot on stage at the first season of The Voice South Africa in 2016. He developed a passion for playing the guitar as a child growing up in his hometown of Chinhoyi, Zimbabwe. By the time he reached 14, Jeremy was already touring the country in a rock band called The Fugitives.
The 40-year-old musician, who now lives in the Mother City with his wife and five children, has fond memories of his childhood days. He recalls having a sense of freedom and remembers just about everything, from being outdoors, the summer rains and mopane trees, to visiting Lake Kariba and the Zambezi River, and watching the hippos and crocodiles. Then there were the fishing and hunting trips with his family.
“These are all the memories I will forever hold of my childhood in the great Zimbabwe,” Jeremy recalls.
He decided to take his music career further once he had completed his A-Levels in Harare. When he moved to Cape Town, he obtained his BMus Honours in Jazz Performance from the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) South African College of Music. “I had to audition three times to get into UCT to start studying my BMus (Hon) degree. And you only have one audition per year,” says Jeremy.
CHANGING WORLD
Last September, Jeremy released his album Changing World, which is a fusion of Afro-jazz and pop. The musician worked with several world- class musicians on the album, which was recorded at The Clubhouse Studios in New York where Shawn Mendes and The Lumineers recorded their latest albums.
Capetonian Shaun Johannes was on bass, keyboards and Hammond organ, while two-time Grammy award winner Will Calhoun of Living Colour fame played the drums. David Sancious, who has played with both Sting and The Boss (Bruce Springsteen) for over 30 years, was on Hammond organ and keyboards.
“We also had some legendary horn players adding a New York element to round off an incredible project that I am so happy to share with the world,” says Jeremy.
