Derek Gripper & Guy Buttery

South Africans Derek Gripper & Guy Buttery both play the guitar, but their collaborations are unlike any guitar duo that you’ve ever heard.

Gripper has uniquely mastered the art of playing in the manner of the 21-string West African instrument, the kora. He travelled in India adapting Carnatic music to the guitar and then found inspiration in the complex syncopations of West African kora music. Having collaborated with well-known kora players like Toumani Diabate and Ballaké Sissoko, classic kora compositions are now a regular part of his dazzling repertoire.

Buttery is primarily known as a guitar player but is also an extraordinary multi-instrumentalist who has been lauded internationally for his insatiable appetite for experimenting with new sounds and instruments, underpinning his work’s global appeal. In 2025, Buttery completed his long-standing project–the album Orchestrations–recorded across 10 countries with contributions from artists that included Kaki King in New York, Mudassir Khan in New Delhi, Julian Sartorius in Berne, Madala Kunene in Durban, and Derek Gripper in Cape Town.

Gripper and Buttery are longtime friends and musical collaborators who bring the wealth of many cultures to their musical inventions – their spell-binding performance is sure to take you around the world!

– ND