South African Singing Doctor Marc Hendricks to Release Debut Solo Album in Cape Town

Singing doctor Marc Hendricks is all set to launch a new album later this month with the sole purpose of using his passion for music to make a difference in his community. UPRIGHT CITIZEN is his debut solo musical album, and the man himself is set to dazzle Cape Town audiences at the Artscape Theatre on 22 April in a one-night-only performance.

The proceeds from the show will be donated to Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital for transformation initiatives. The launch will be directed by renowned actress and director Quanita Adams, with musical direction by Amanda Tiffin. The performance is set to feature some of the country's premier musicians on stage, inclyding Tiffin herself on piano and keys, Kevin Gibson on drums, Shaun Johannes on bass, Dave Ledbetter on guitar, Marc de Kock on saxophone and flute, Farida Bacharova on first violin, Patrick Goodwin on second violin, Paula Gabriel on viola) and Kristyan Chernev on cello. The UCT Jazz Voices will also perform at the event.

Hendricks, who has been recording and writing music since the early 1990s, says this album has been 'a long time coming' after his last release in 2000:

In late 2015, I asked my friend, Amanda Tiffin, to produce this recording which she accepted to my great excitement. Amanda is one of those rare people who as a singer, composer, jazz vocal teacher, musical director and arranger can do it all and with consummate ease to boot, so having her on board as my producer was a 'no-brainer'.

After spending spent the first six to eight months sifting through what was then a very large repertoire to decide which would make the eventual cut for the album, Amanda and I looked at older song writing material as well as taking on new compositions including a first collaboration on 'Do what You Say' which was great fun.

This is Hendricks's fourth musical release, second full album and first solo album. Hendricks took his first shot at songwriting as a teenager, encouraged by his musical family. After school, he met many of the people who were to become his musical collaborators over the next 20 years. An early collaboration with his friend and fellow musician, Gavin Goldberg, saw the duo record two singles, "Danger" and "Satisfy". The latter earned them a SAMA nomination in the Best Pop-Rock Single category in 2001. Their full album, CLEAR, followed later that same year.

Following that release, Hendricks continued to compose for other artists over the years, including Judith Sephuma, Peter Grant and Naomi Suzuki. His first solo offering, UPRIGHT CITIZEN, shares his stories, sometimes intimate and always honest, traversing the story of his life, family and work inspired by his earliest love affairs with music and creative writing. He continues:

Come, sit back and relax for an evening of fun, great music and great performances by fantastic musicians at the beautiful Artscape Theatre as we tell the story of Upright Citizen. Support music for change.

UPRIGHT CITIZEN was arranged and recorded with engineer and studio owner, Paris Zannos, at Paris Studios in Cape Town in September last year. Tickets for the launch are available online at Computicket or by phone through Artscape Dial-a-Seat on 021 421 7695 or the Artscape box office on 021 421 7839. Tickets are priced at R175 each, with concessions available for block bookings, students and pensioners. For more information about Marc Hendricks, visit his official website.