Jazz as you've never heard it

PEOPLE who like international jazz will soon be smiling. Legendary American composer, pianist and arranger Dave Grusin is coming to Mzansi for his first collaborative tour with acclaimed American guitarist Lee Ritenour on African soil

The master musicians will give two shows on May 27 and 28 at the Montecasino's Teatro.

"I've long wanted to perform for fans in South Africa. And to have Lee join me is really special," Grusin said.

Grusin is known as much for his solo work as his tribute recordings - among them The Gershwin Connection, Homage to Duke and Two For The Road, which is a tribute to Henry Mancini.

The multi-Grammy Award winner once said: "As an artist I am signed as a pianist first and foremost. So I'm able to choose between recording albums of all original material as well as doing these great tribute collections.

"It's been an interesting double life, doing both film scoring and jazz recordings. The chief difference is that in film you have parameters based on how the music will function with the images. With my own albums, it's like a blank canvas, absolute freedom to create from scratch, and that presents its own set of challenges," Grusin said.

Indeed, it's his film and television soundtrack work that turned Grusin into a household name and saw him become an Academy Award winner for the film The Milagro Beanfield War. He also composed the moving score for the 1989 film A Dry White Season, based on André Brink's book, cementing a connection with this country that goes back for decades.

Ritenour is an award-winning guitarist, who has earned the name "Captain Fingers" for his extraordinary ability on the guitar, which has seen him release a raft of solo and collaborative work.

A founding member of the very successful band in contemporary jazz, Fourplay, Ritenour has enjoyed a fantastic career that includes more than 30 recordings, several gold albums, numerous number one spots in guitar polls and a reputation as a fusion guitarist of epic proportions.