ArtistInfo

Benguela

Band,
Musician of Rock

Brydon Bolton (double bass), Alex Bozas (guitar), Ross Campbell (drums). The name Benguela was taken from the cold current running up the West Coast of Southern Africa and reflects both the flowing nature of the music as well as being geographically representative of where the band came together and the climate in which they live. The instrumental band have been playing improvised music together since 1996 and have released five full albums. Every performance is a once off, spur of the moment creation and depends on the audience, environment and what kind of mood they’re in as to whether the music is ambient or angular. Their last collaboration with Tony Cox (4) won the SAMA award for Best Instrumental Album 2008. They have also collaborated with cultural anarchist Koos Kombuis and internationally renowned poet Breyten Breytenbach. They have played most of the festivals around the country including the North Sea Jazz Festival ‘03, Oppikoppi ‘98 & ‘01, Splashy Fen, Up The Creek and the Standard Bank Grahamstown Arts Festival ’99 & 05 as part of the New Music Indaba. “Tenacious levels of technical proficiency. Intricate cadence. Tough yet tender. Warm and deep. The music unfolds and then folds back on itself. At times I felt like I was underwater.” - The Sourcerer “Benguela have recorded one of the finest South African albums of 2010. It’s just going to take some time to digest it all. Black Southeaster is sprawling music for the adventurous mind.” - Lloyd Gedye for the Mail & Gaurdian “The great strength of Benguela is that they never overcomplicate things, always keeping the music within the grasp of the listener. Spontaneous compositions that are as likely to be dark, dense and churning as ramblingly, languorously, billowingly atmospheric.” Richard Haslop for Audio Video Magazine Benguela: Sui/Chopsui (Open Record) “The latest from these Capetonian rhythm rebels is a humdinger, a smorgasbord of beats, riffs, intense grooves, melodic signatures and musical textures, all carefully captured on one of the most atmospheric albums of the year.” - Pretoria News review by Craig Canavan “Benguela’s sound is an atmospheric, uncompromisingly adventurous fusion of constantly shifting elements..”. “Allow Digital Inability to work it’s magic, and you won’t be able to get enough.” - James Garner (Big Issue) 8/10 “Spine chilling. The combined forces of the Benguela threesome create heart-core, deep listening music that bestows the ultimate respect on the listener by allowing them to wander freely through the sound field without prescribing a melody or beat to them.” “Digital Inability is a victory of improvisation and experimentation.” - James Webb (SL magazine) 5/5 “Listening to jazzy post-rock improvisational trio Benguela’s latest album is like reading the Kama-Sutra while watching Mulholland Drive - a melding of the cerebral and the visceral.” - Miles Keylock (GQ) Album Of The Month

Members

	Brydon Bolton cb
	Alex Bozas g
	Ross Campbell dr