Co-founder
of The
Open Project with Open
Dave
Singer,
songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer,
Yeshe is a true world nomad having lived in
more than 20 countries embedding himself in
their music
and culture. His family of friends span the
globe and he feels a profound personal allegiance
to all of these people and their cultures.
Yeshe
has been involved in more than 20 albums with
as many different artists around the world.
His
own solo career as a singer, songwriter and
multi-instrumentalist began in 2000 and
in 2003 he finally released his first solo
EP Offspring co-produced by Harry Manx. In
late 2004 he released his first solo CD World
Citizen with Canadian label Dog my Cat Records,
now distributed globally and performing very
well in Canada (Top 10 World Music Charts 2006)
By
the age of 17 Yeshe hit the road as a drummer,
percussionist and bass player with a variety
of bands, playing a wide range of styles including
Reggae, Funk, Blues, Latin and South African
Jive. He also frequently accompanied African
dancers and dance troupes. Yeshe spent his
winters in different West African countries
furthering
his musical studies and toured extensively
through Europe from spring to autumn. During
this time
he met and worked in a variety of ensembles
with his next mentor Tefo Hlaele of the South
African performance troupe Iphin Thombi.
In
the early 80s Yeshe met slide guitarist and
singer/songwriter Harry Manx who remains a
powerful
influence and great friend to this day. They
have worked together frequently and still do
so. In 1985 Yeshe left Europe to explore Asia
and its music, he spent 5 years living in Japan
where he worked as a session musician for a variety
of Japanese and international artists while also
teaching percussion. During this time he travelled
throughout Asia to study different percussion
styles and was fortunate to be invited to study
with the Peliatan Gamelan Orchestra (Bali), the
Kodo Drummers of Sado Island (Japan) and Samul
Nori of Korea amongst others.
From the early 90s Yeshe has been based in Australia,
playing and touring with numerous bands there
and internationally. Currently Yeshe works and
tours with Harry Manx, U.S. based Afro Funk band
Panjea and Didgeridoo virtuoso Ganga Giri (Real
World recording artist) as well as building his
own solo career. He has played at so many festivals
he has long since lost count, favourites include
Glastonbury (England), Sziget (Hungary) and Woodford
(Australia).
Yeshe also fondly remembers his 3 year experience
as percussionist / performance artist with the
Australian chart topping teen pop band Girlfriend
which included touring in China in 1993 to massive
audiences as one of the first western pop bands
allowed there for many years.
Yeshe continues to teach dynamic percussion
workshops to share his love of the music that
is such a big part of his life and through his
own studies in Africa became involved in establishing
cultural centres in Ghana and Zimbabwe to which
he took westerners to study African drumming,
dance and culture.
In
1996, while touring in the U.S. Yeshe met singer,
songwriter, multi-instrumentalist Chris
Berry and started an ongoing love affair with
the traditional Shona (Zimbabwe) instrument the
mbira. On returning to Australia he met Zimbabwean
mbira player Fabio Chivhanda and formed a band
with him, soon after he travelled to Zimbabwe
to further his studies of the mbira. There he
played with Fabio’s band Marimbira Black
Sounds and met his teacher and new mentor, mbira
virtuoso Garikai Tirikoti (also in the open project). Yeshe has since co-produced
and recorded 2 of Garikai's mbira CDs for the
U.S. world music label Humansongs.
Visit
Yeshe's website here: yeshemusic.com
