Ray Phiri
| Ray Phiri | |
|---|---|
Phiri performing in 2007
|
|
| Born |
Raymond Chikapa Phiri 23 March 1947 Nelspruit, South Africa |
| Died | 12 July 2017 (aged 70) Nelspruit, South Africa |
| Residence | Johannesburg and Nelspruit South Africa |
| Occupation | Recording artist, jazz fusion |
| Years active | 1970–2017 |
| Spouse(s) | Daphney Phiri (deceased) |
| Children | 3 sons, 5 daughters |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | Jazz, jazz fusion, reggae, mbaqanga |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar |
| Labels | Gallo, Barclay |
| Associated acts | Stimela, "Just Now" Phiri, Paul Simon |
Raymond Chikapa Enock Phiri (23 March 1947 – 12 July 2017) was a South African jazz, fusion and mbaqanga musician born in Mpumalanga to Thabethe Phiri, a Malawian immigrant worker, and South African guitarist nicknamed "Just Now" Phiri. He collaborated with Paul Simon and Ladysmith Black Mambazo on Simon's Graceland (album) project in 1985, and became founding member of the Cannibals in the 1970s. When the Cannibals disbanded Ray founded Stimela, with whom he conceived gold and platinum-selling albums like Fire, Passion and Ecstacy (1982), Look, Listen and Decide (1986).
Ray Phiri was born near Nelspruit in the then Eastern Transvaal, now Mpumalanga Province, in South Africa. In 1985, Paul Simon asked Ray along with Ladysmith Black Mambazo and other South African musicians to join his Graceland project, which was successful and also helped the South African musicians to make names for themselves abroad.
Phiri was to collaborate with Simon again on Simon's Rhythm of the Saints album, which saw him perform in over 30 nations during 1990 and 1991, including Paul Simon's Concert in the Park (August 1991, Central Park) and New York's Madison Square Garden, as well as appearing on Saturday Night Live and other top television shows in the United States. The tour concluded in early 1992 with concerts staged in South Africa at venues in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Durban. In 2012 Simon organised a European Graceland 25th Anniversary Tour in which Phiri also contributed his voice, guitar and leadership.
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