Coercion sometimes has positive consequences. Ask people that were chased away from Municipal Music school for skipping guitar lessons and who today are head-banging in world famous rock bands. Ask people that where forced by their parents to take private violin lessons and today are famous soloists in symphony orchestras. Ask the South African, Alex van Heerden: during his time at school in Port Elizabeth, on the South African Southeast coast, he was lucky enough to get to choose between compulsory military training, or marching in line while playing the trumpet. He was smart - he chose the second option.

It didn’t take long before Alex figured out that he could play other things besides military march-music. Jazz then overtook his life and after finishing school he moved to Cape Town and worked with some of the biggest jazz musicians: Winston Mankunku, Robbie Jansen, Hilton Schilder and Mac McKenzie.

Then in 1998, hanging out with country music freaks, playing accordion and really getting into South African domestic rhythms, Alex started his first solo project, ”Gramadoelas”. It was an obstinate psychedelic interpretation of Vastrap, a rural dance music-style , and its interpreters became the talking point in jazz and alternative circles because of the free and open style of their performances.

In 2000, Alex and the contrabass player, Brydon Bolton developed a new project called ELX, and went on tour in Norway and Sweden. The visit in Stockholm became the beginning of a long-lasting relationship with the city’s underground dance music scene. Alex fell in love with the minimalistic experimental techno and electronica. His friendship with the dance music guru and P2 Ström- host Håkan Lidbo led to a diversity of musical collaboration.

His friendship with the pianist, Magnus Bank resulted in the etiquette of Smallfunk. The duet soon released their album Nefertiti-becoming Insect. Van Heerden followed up with the album Hemisfär, a hybrid of vastrap, ambient, and jazz. And Sagtevlei, where vastrap meets modern avant-garde stringed instruments arranged by the guitarist Derek Gripper.

Today, Alex has a band with Hilton Schilder called Rockart, but in his solo project, Bushtech, he mixes together South African indigenous peoples history with Western, high-tempo beats and electronic perfectionism.

Alex van Heerden has been on tour both in Africa and Europe, and he played at the Norberg Festival in 2003 and 2005, the Stockholm Jazz Festival in 2005, and in June he will be taking a laptop and a trumpet to do a gig at the Clandestino Festival. Don’t miss the multifunctional artist, with his totally unique mix of Scandinavian swing music and provincial terse style.

Johanna Olofsson