What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of a sax player?
A badly-dressed fat guy in a Blues band?
Think again.
Do you remember Diamonds and Dust at the Barnyard? The guy who came down the stairs playing the pennywhistle?
Or the saxophonist in Rouge Pulp; the dynamic two-man cabaret by Amra-Faye Wright? (Velma Kelly in SA’s Chicago)
That’s me.
I am a dynamic performer, who is always well presented
And can, as an instrumentalist, hold an audiences attention in any show format.
My showpieces include dynamic versions of Sting’s Roxanne, John Lennon’s Hey Jude, The popular sax hit Pick up the Pieces, Baker Street and more…
Also: Songs by Kenny G and dynamic Kwela, performed on Pennywhistle…
I am currently working outside of the Barnyard Circuit, for whom I have worked for the last five years – having performed on average about 240 shows a year to an average of 300 people a night.
I work in different formats and with different performers:
These include:
- Solo sax show/cabaret or feature.
(Chris Luke’s solo show was performed in Swaliland for Spar, the Zimbali Lodge in KZN and every Friday night at Gardels Tango Club in Bedfordview for 3 months in 2005)
- Cabaret comprising of sax and singer/s (with Tanya Koenderman)
- Cocktail Sax (background options): Sax with tracks, with guitar, with keys etc.
- With Band: Full five piece original South African Smooth Jazz outfit (see additional info.)
- Sax and vocal format (Light Jazz) with tracks
Chris Luke has been making music for the last fifteen years. His foray into the commercial industry was performing sax and bass guitar in the hugely popular Return to the Forbidden Planet at The Baxter Theatre in Cape Town in 1995 and since then he has become a prominent name in musical theatre circles the country over. Luke is a dynamic and charismatic showman, leaving audiences spellbound and cheering for more, with his unique interpretations of well-known songs in the shows he has played.
Luke has played saxophone, pennywhistle, clarinet, backing keyboards and bass guitar in box office sell-outs: Cape Town’s Forbidden Planet, Solid Gold Juke Box I & II, Annie, Breyten Breytenbach’s Johnny Cockroach, The Ultimate 80’s Show and Etien Van Hierden’s Lied Van Die Boeings. In Durban he’s received rave reviews in The Elvis Las Vegas Extravaganza, Rouge Pulp and Barnyard productions: Glory Days, Rock Me Amadeus, Yesterday, La Vida, Diamonds & Dust, Hot Chocolate, Mick n’ Tina and Born to Run. In addition, he’s played the saxophone with the Jonny Cooper Big Band, Toured and recorded with South Africa’s The Blues Broers, fusion outfit Absolute Zero who played at the North Sea Jazz festival, was a member of the South African Police Orchestra for two years, toured and recorded with Jewish Cantor Ezra Altschuler. He toured a two-man production with Amra-Faye Right (Velma Kelly in South Africa and West End’s Chicago). Luke composed and produced the music for the Vega School of Advertising’s Five year Movie. Luke has also lectured at the University of Cape Town on its jazz-bridging course for two years, co-writing the curriculum. Chris Luke has a BMus Jazz Studies degree, graduating with the Bell Prize (highest mark throughout all years for practical studies) from UCT. |
