Genre: Traditional
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Description: Guitarist Louis Mhlanga was born on 10 November 1956 in Harare, Zimbabwe. At the tender age of 10, he started playing guitar.

Completely self-taught, he mastered the instrument by copying artists like Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and many other influential bands in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Besides the Western influence from music he listened to on the radio broadcasts, Mhlanga studied the southern and west African guitar tradition intensively.

He transferred the traditional mbira patterns, well known all over Africa, into a unique way of playing the guitar in an eclectic, modern way.

In his career Mhlanga has worked and recorded with a number of accomplished and recognised musicians, such as King Sunny Ade in Lagos, Nigeria. Here Mhlanga also produced some artists connected to King Sunny Ade. This proved to be a solid base on which to grow his career, as more recently he has worked with Sipho "Hotstix" Mabuse, Hugh Masekela, Ray Phiri, Busi Mhlongo, Caiphus Semenya, Letta Mbuli, Jonas Gwangwa, Sibongile Khumalo and Vusi Mahlasela.

In April 2000, Mhlanga produced Mahlasela's fourth album, on which he also featured. Before that, in 1999, a live recording with Mahlasela resulted in the album Vusi and Louis Live at the Bassline.

He was also involved with Thandi Klaassen's album Two of a Kind. This project was initiated by Dutch singer Stef Bos, who featured Mhlanga on his album De Onderstroom, for which he co-wrote the music of the title-song. The guitarist also played on the album Place of Hope, a series of collaborations with George Duke, James Ingram, Al Jarreau, Diane Reeves a.m.o. Mhlanga can also be heard on Fire in the Engine Room by Andy Narell, and following their South African tour they released the album Live in SA.

This impressive discography includes solo work, notably the album Mukai; with Music ye Afrika in 2001 he put together a new group, The Louis Mhlanga Band, featuring musicians with a strong jazz influence. It was invited by radio station SAFM to perform at the Standard Bank National Arts Festival in Grahamstown.

Then, in July 2001 Mhlanga released Shamwari, his first on the Sheer Sound label.

In 1998 he travelled to Europe to give workshops at several conservatories, or music schools, to teach his mbira-inspired material. There he met double bass player Eric van der Westen, with whom he recorded in 1999 an album dedicated to his daughter, Song for Nomsa.

It was the first time that Mhlanga could be heard in such a spacious acoustic setting. From that album the song Zvinoshamisa was used as the soundtrack of a video clip produced by Education International and NOVIB for their Global Campaign Against Child Labour and The Right for All Children to Education campaign.

Through this connection with the Netherlands, Mhlanga came across less common sounds when he began playing with the famous Dutch jazz group, The Paul van Kemenade Quintet. He recorded the album Zvinoshamisa with the group and together they toured The Netherlands in 1998, 1999 and 2000.

Mhlanga's outstanding feel and touch have taken him all over the world. He has performed at major festivals, such as The Sunsplash in Austria, Music Metisses in France, Rudelstadt in Germany, Masa in Ivory Coast, Dranouter in Belgium, Tribute Concert for Lady Diana in England, Stranger than Paranoia and Mundial in The Netherlands.

The guitarist's playing is very clear and bright; his melodic feel and superb sense of timing make him a true master of the instrument. This mastery, combined with a deliberate yet delicate singing voice, expresses what a special musician he is.