Want to know where the locals love to go? In this exclusive series on Time Out Cape Town, ‘Local Intel’ taps into some of the city’s best-connected characters to unearth the corners you simply can’t miss in the Mother City.
Classically trained in Cape Town, guitarist Derek Gripper built his early reputation on a repertoire that spanned from Bach to the contemporary. But it was when his ear and imagination were piqued by West Africa’s ‘kora’ that Gripper shot to fame.
Intrigued by the notion of layering the music of a 21-string instrument onto a six-string guitar, his journey resulted in the landmark recording ‘One Night on Earth: Music from the Strings of Mali’ – laid down in a single overnight session – featuring kora standards and works by Toumani Diabaté. It has since become a calling card for his kora-on-guitar approach.
The kora project opened a pathway to long-term collaborations. Gripper now performs and records regularly with Malian kora master Ballaké Sissoko; the duo’s first self-titled release was cut swiftly in London and praised for its conversational interplay between kora and guitar.
That innovative approach has made him one of just a handful of South African artists to be featured in America's NPR Music Tiny Desk concert series.
But Gripper’s partnerships are not limited only to West Africa. A long-standing interest in Indian classical music has led to sessions with California-based sarod virtuoso Alam Khan (son of Ali Akbar Khan), extending Gripper’s string-tradition dialogues, while closer to home Gripper regularly teams up with Durban’s Guy Buttery.
It’s a formidable catalogue of creativity that he’s only too happy to share in person. Gripper spends weeks on the road each year, touring his kora transcriptions and original compositions across Europe and the United States.
But when he packs the passport away, Cape Town is the city this globally-acclaimed guitarist calls home. And these are his favourite corners...
MORE CELEBS SHARE THEIR LOCAL SECRETS
If you’re not from Cape Town, you probably don’t realise that you can walk down this path from nowhere to this incredible beach, with this bunch of houses that can only be reached by foot or boat. It’s quite bizarre. Swimming there by yourself is really great.
Main Road, Cape Point
Musically, one of the most inspiring places in Cape Town is a place called Bridges for Music in Langa. My partner worked there for a long time, so I used to go there quite often. They run a full-time program for people between the ages of 20 and mid-30s, and it offers a six-month course that focuses on music production, mindfulness, and entrepreneurship. It's a really inspiring place.
Washington Street, Langa
Years ago, I did an album called ‘A Year of Swimming’, and when I lived in the city I would go every morning with my children or in the evenings, spending about half an hour out in that kind of pool between the rocks. It's a beautiful place, and if I've got someone visiting, I would definitely send them there.
Beta Road, Bakoven
This is one of the places that I've gone to the most in Cape Town, and where I spend a lot of my time. I'm waiting for my puppy to grow up so I can start walking with him on the contour path here in the forests. This is one of the great places in Cape Town.
Rhodes Avenue, Newlands
I got into analogue photography over the last few years, so when I'm travelling I am always taking photos. When I come back, one of the first things I do is go to Beneway and drop off 20 rolls of film. There's also Cape Film Supply, and Orms of course, but in terms of workflow of what I like, I really love Beneway.
2 Hans Strijdom Avenue, Cape Town
I'm a little embarrassed to say, but one thing I quite like doing is… well, I sometimes take my guitar and I go to the gardens of the Mount Nelson hotel. They've got those wonderful tables and chairs there in the garden. So I’ll go and order a pot of tea and I play guitar in the garden, and it's quite nice. For me, it's a great working place actually. I can get a cup of tea, I take a little notepad and I play around on the guitar.
Orange Street, Gardens
This is an artwork by a friend of mine called Nawawie Matthews. It's on the corner of Addison and Chapel Street in Salt River and it's a mural for Palestine. It was made in 2021 by Nawawie and two other artists and I think it's a beautiful monument to South Africa's long relationship with Palestine, and the freedom movement. I think that it's an important place in Cape Town.
This is a place I used to go 15 or 20 years ago in Observatory, but Café Ganesh recently got new owners and are doing a Sunday DJ thing. I went the other week to see Felix Laband I’ve made a promise to myself to go there more often now that I'm back from tour.
38 Trill Rd, Observatory
I've got a great friend, Jonathan, who has a restaurant in town called Black Sheep. I go there often, and Johnny always comes out and says, "Don't worry, don't order, we're doing this new thing. Try this.” And so that's always really fun. But all of the food is excellent. It's so nice to see people in the city that are being creative and excited about what they're doing, you know.
104 Kloof Street, Gardens
I’m very excited about taking my new dog to Silvermine Dam. Because I travel a lot I often get to discover places again. When I get back I'm always in this process of rediscovering the city, I suppose. So that's quite a privilege, actually.
Ou Kaapse Weg, Silvermine
This is a fantastic little independent book store on the Main Road in Kalk Bay. My friend Audrey is one of the owners, and because she’s not on Whatsapp or anything if I want to see her I have to go to her wonderful book shop. Sometimes I’ll buy a book, sometimes I’ll go to chat, but it’s always worth a visit. And we go to Olympia Bakery at least once a month.
62 Main Road, Kalk Bay
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