NORTON – This year our SPAR Solo Festival at Pakare Paye here on 3 December features one of Southern Africa’s international jazz artists – Steve Dyer.

Dyer, a good friend of Zimbabwe, was born in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, in 1960 and lived and worked in Zimbabwe in 1986 where he played with the likes of the iconic drummer Jethro Shasha and the Jazz Survivors. Shasha is late.

In 1986 Dyer left for the United Kingdom where he performed and also did studio work before returning to Zimbabwe in 1988 and composed the song Mudzimu for the BBC programme, Under African Skies.

Dyer released his debut Southern Freeway in 1989 which coincided with the formation of his band of the same name.

He has directed a show Mahube that is a collaboration of musicians from Southern Africa including Oliver Mtukudzi and many others.

Dyer plays the saxophone, flute and guitar and sings too. He studied music at the University of Natal (SA) where he obtained a degree (1st class) in classical music in 1981. He has also lived and worked in Botswana where he was involved in the Culture and Resistance Symposium.

In South Africa Dyer has also worked with many musicians including Jonas Gwangwa and Caiphus Semenya and Letta Mbuli whom he was involved with in the Buwa show, a musical that was based on the political situation in SA at the time. – Sheer Sound / tukumusik.com