Karoo kitaar blues

The Great Karoo covers about one-third of the total land surface of South Africa. Here, in the endless, arid and often forgotten hinterlands of Cape Town, the South African stage director David Kramer starts out on a search for authentic musical talents in an old white van. Accompanied by guitarist Pieter Cloete, Kramer penetrates the farmland ever deeper in an attempt to save the music of yesteryear from oblivion. He comes across interpretations of songs like Ek will ’n Stukkie van die Jamtert He and Bitter Swaar. Kramer also visits the family of the deceased musician Japie Jaers, who played a violin made from an oilcan. The quest for the ‘invisible’ musicians (‘The only way to find them is to keep looking, asking and driving’) is difficult, but successful. Kramer puts together a band of eight men and women - and the journey ends with rehearsals for a performance in a sold-out concert hall in Cape Town. Which makes KAROO KITAAR BLUES South Africa’s answer to Ry Cooder’s and Wim Wenders’ BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB (1999).