World Café is James Grace’s fifth solo album, which he describes as a celebration of the guitar’s diversity. It is released under his own record label, Stringwise Records.

‘In most musical genres’, says Grace, ‘the guitar is almost always a primary instrument. From classical to jazz, pop to rock, flamenco to blues or folk, the guitar is always present. So I thought a global tour, in which I included musical styles from several countries, would be an ideal way to showcase the versatility of the instrument’.

Featuring music from countries including America, Australia, Turkey, Spain, France, Scotland, England and of course South Africa, World Café does indeed showcase the guitar in a variety of styles!

Grace’s previous two albums (Sevilla – Music of Spain II and Café Latino) have both topped the Classic FM Top 20 Charts, and earned Grace SAMA nominations for Best Popular Classical Album and Best Instrumental Album respectively.

This year Grace’s concert schedule has taken him throughout South Africa, the U.A.E and Zimbabwe. He was the soloist in Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez with the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra and Pieter Daniel at Kirstenbosch’s Summer Concert Series, and recently Grace joined forces with Jonathan Crossley to give the South African premiere of Rodrigo’s Concierto Madrigal for two guitars with the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra and Alessandro Crudele.

Grace is Head of Guitar Studies at the South African College of Music at UCT, and is currently in the final stages of setting up the Stringwise Young Artist’s Trust, with the aim of providing financial assistance to graduates wanting to record their own albums.

The CD will be launched at the Endler Hall in Stellenbosch on 7 November. Consult our What’s On calendar for more details.

For more information visit www.jamesgrace.co.za