Derek Gripper, a featured ELLNORA 2013 guitarist, owes much of his playing to the guitar style of Brazilian composer Egberto Gismonti. From Gismonti, Gripper gets his love of timbre, pulsing drones in different parts of the guitar, and long form structures. Unlike Gismonti, however, his harmonic language does not come from jazz and classical music but rather from the music of Africa—Mali, Senegal, The Gambia, South Africa, Zimbabwe—a language which Gripper learned by transcribing works by some of these countries' greatest performers such as Toumani Diabaté, Ali Farka Touré, Salif Keita, Amadou Bansang Jobarteh, Baaba Maal, Madosini, and Chiwoniso. His works for string quartet, larger ensembles, or installations have been performed/exhibited at The Venice Architecture Biennale and the Peasmarsh Chamber Music Festival in the United Kingdom and used in films such as Five Fingers For Marseilles.
