211222 HA!Man
performance | Caroline Brown, Cape Town | I think this is communication before
there was language. And it is connecting between those who are present and
those ancestors who have gone before. And with the soul of the earth.
210513 HA!Man performance | Peter van Straaten, Cape Town | Wowzers. Francois
is more than a great musician. Reality bender. Wizard. Bloody brilliant!
190316 HA!Man performance | Carol Salter, Dover, UK | a virtuoso at its very
best
190305 HA!Man performance | Jacques Smeets, Netherlands | Ongelooflijk wat
hij allemaal in één performance propt. Naast de muziekinstrumenten,
gebruikt hij vooral zijn stem, mond, tong en lippen om zichzelf te begeleiden.
Hij fluit, zingt, klakt, kreunt, smakt, zucht, praat en schreeuwt. Tijdens
het dansen met sjaals zet hij elke spier en elk gewricht van zijn lichaam
in.
180130 HA!Man performance | Joel Karabo Elliot, Nashville | Ha!Man Francois
le Roux is truly one of the finest jewels of South African music. Classical
music meets free improvisation meets storytelling meets INFINITY in his inspired
performances. Rarely do we encounter such embodiment of spirit and skill,
soul and technique, talent and humility in a single body-soul!
151123 HA!Man and Joke | Mara Sanchez, NYC | These artist's music and poetry
are working to change the world.
151011 HA!Man and Joke | Ronda Miller, Kansas | What a rare gift they hold
individually. The combination of his voice/music and her spontaneous spoken
word poetry made for a uniquely rare delight in performance last night.
150906 HA!Man and Joke | Jan-Willem Wiener, Oudtshoorn, SA | I wonder if the
two of you, humble spirits, realize that you make a difference!? You travel
the Globe, perform and move on, leaving us behind, touched by your alchemy
of sounds & words, changing us, charging us.
140702 HA!Man performance | Biren Shah, India | Your work, I feel, is much
more than the making of music. It is muse-ic. You are using music as a tool,
and it is clearing and creating the old and new, respectively.
130214 HA!Man and Joke | from review by Rob Knowles (Talk of The Town, Port
Alfred) | Le Roux redefines the modern South African musical genre, rocking
the roots of traditional African rhythm and challenging any preconceived ideas
about what one is allowed to do with two keyboards, a speaker system, a descant
recorder, a live cello and voice. Together with Debaere the performance was
exceptional in terms of quality and originality. It is seldom that artists
give so much of themselves in a performance as this pair did. The HA!Man is
a musical revolution and le Roux and Debaere's performances are as memorable
as they are emotive.
110916 HA!Man performance | guitarist Derek Gripper, Cape Town | Its not often
one sees someone using human resources to have fun. (The HA!) is truly revolutionary.
The most subversive art out there. Like a religious ceremony without the religion.
110720 HA!Man performance | from a recommendation by the late Peter Krummeck
(playwright) | Where most entertainers 'touch' Francois 'changes'. His shift
of emphasis from 'me' to 'we' has robust potential for lasting good in a self-seeking
world gripped by moral bankruptcy.
080215 HA!Man
performance | David Perry-Davies, Cape Town | You are truly inspirational.
Thank you! I also believe that the only way to get us out of the environmental
mess that we are in - is to activate people through their hearts - which again
is why I think your work is so important and valuable
071001 HA!Man
performance | (wyle) Mixael de Kock, impressario, Johannesburg | Francois
le Roux is 'n uitvoerproduk wat wereldklas is.. sonder twyfel een van Suid-Afrika
se grootstes..
051011 HA!Man
performance | Nancy Nicolay, Kansas City HA!event | let me say you are the
most remarkable and electrifying musician I have ever seen and I've loved
music all of my life. I've seen Jimmie Hendrix, the Beatles and others going
back that far. There really aren't enough adjectives to describe your performances.
050807 HA!Man
performance | from performance review by Colin Lang, Knysna (1) | Every textural
sound that a cello can create was evinced by the artist in cantilena and spiccato
passages and precisely controlled glissando. Unlike the famous cellist Pablo
Casals who grunted in his advanced years, Francois deploys the most telling
vocalization from lips, tongue and glottis, as well as his lips to whistle
to delineate rhythms and give peculiar colour. At other moments he sings in
a perfectly pitched baritone. As to the music itself, it would be fair, if
inadequate, to state that he brings a most imaginative fusion of classical
and contemporary melody and harmony to his highly varied conceptions, which
is not at all derivative. (Colin Lang, Knysna Reporter, South Africa)
050807 HA!Man
performance | from performance review by Colin Lang, Knysna (2) | Rare indeed
is the sight and sound these days of a 'macho'/sensitive instrumentalist,
in this instance, primarily on the 'Cello, which he handles with both freedom
and intensity.
050219 HA!Man
performance | Greg Pastoll, Cape Town | This is talent of the highest order..
Francois stretches my imagination f or what music is about. He whips it up
and slings it around with the ease and nonchalance of a circus juggler. If
you go to your grave without seeing this show, you will have let history pass
you by.
020914 HA!Man performance | from review by Die Burger, South African daily | (The HA!Man is) one of South Africa's most talented performers.. His performance on piano, keyboard and cello is truly a fresh experience and one can only observe in amazement his countless improvisations and finely attuned interpretations - as with his rendition of Brahms' Lullaby, where he used flute, cello and piano to captivate his audience into a near trance.