Paul Hanmer is a legendary South African composer and pianist who has spent the past 40 years playing piano in several musical genres and writing music for jazz artists, orchestras, chamber groups and solo artists in predominantly jazz and classical styles. He has worked with a wide range of South African music and theatre legends, including Taliep Petersen, Jennifer Ferguson, Barney Simon, Sibongile Khumalo on her first jazz gig, Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela, Jonathan Butler, Pops Mohamed, Ray Phiri and Sipho Gumede. His three-decade musical relationship with McCoy Mrubata is one of the most productive collaborations in SA jazz and his award-winning 1997 recording Trains to Taung altered the landscape of South African pianism. Influenced by Keith Jarrett, Hanmer’s music is at times cerebral and minimalist, but always distinctly South African, with strong flavours of the Cape Flats and the Friday afternoon township gumba. He has written extensively for classical performers – in often unusual instrumentation – for performances in South Africa and Europe and has completed his PhD at Rhodes, part of the requirements of which was to write a symphony.
